From One Side to Another
by True-InTha-Blue
Summary: After his defeat in the Sinnoh League, Ash rethinks his training ways. Accepting Scott's offer to become a Frontier Brain, can Ash regain his belief to continue his dreams as a Pokemon Master? Chapter 31 is up.
1. Once More Frontier

**(July 6th, 2014) Hello this is True-InTha-Blue and this is an updated and edited chapter of From One Side to Another.  
Huge thanks to RubberLotusShipper who was gracious enough to edit my story starting with this one.  
For those just tuning, hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

**From what you may be reading, you may think "Wow. This story is possibly similar to 'From Servant to Stardom' created by Mr.P." Well you're**** right… Almost. Though I greatly enjoyed the Stardom Stories, however, I felt they were somewhat rushed, that the characters and their actions were a bit to spontaneous. You could have noticed this too along with their personalities, especially Anabel's, were a bit ooc.**

**So, I took on the responsibility to hopefully write a Fanfiction that will fulfill the Stardom Stories fan's need for a good story.**

**However this story will differ from the plot of 'From Servant to Stardom' in several major ways. One is how Ash is reacting to becoming a frontier brain. Two is the cannon of the story (which is supposed to be in between the Sinnoh journey and the Unova journey.) so Ash will have all of his current Pokemon. Three. The second half of all of it will start being very different from Stardom. Four, the development of the relationship between Ash and Anabel. And Five is what happens after the story, which is… well you'll just have to read it for yourself.**

**Also I apologize for any mistakes in spelling, grammar, and incorrect information about the show.**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

**Also I do not own the story 'From Servant to Stardom' That belongs to the retired Mr. P**

**Respect Both of them People!**

**Please enjoy the story.**

* * *

'_From One Side to Another.'_

A Pokémon Fanfiction

By True-InTha-Blue

**Edited by RubberLotusShipper**

Chapter One

One More Frontier.

Another day in Pallet Town. Another day for its Pride and Joy, Ash Ketchum.

All hail the Conquering Hero. All hail the trainer who'd made the top four in the Lily of the Valley Conference. Never mind that he'd been beaten like a drum by the mysterious man calling himself Tobias.

It had been one of the most vicious battles that Ash had ever endured - one that saw Tobias ultimately triumph. Though Ash had managed to defeat his powerful Darkrai and Latios - a feat that no else had accomplished - it had cost him all six of his Pokémon to do it. And with great maturity and new experience, Ash accepted had his defeat.

But he wasn't on Lily of the Valley Island anymore. Now, he was sitting in the confines of his room, left with nothing to do but wonder how it could have ended differently.

_I was so close..._

He was happy to be home, happy to finally be in his own bed, but it was a bittersweet happiness at best. There was nothing to distract him from thinking about his defeat now. No Dawn fussing over Piplup. No Brock going gaga over the latest Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny. No Team Rocket to blast off.

A single glance down brought a small smile to his lips. Pikachu, his oldest and dearest friend, was still sleeping on his lap. Enjoying his vacation from the latest leg of their never-ending journey, no doubt.

But his owner was far from comfort, for he kept playing the battle over and over again like a broken record.

Defeat.

Defeat.

Defeat.

Defeat.

Victory.

Defeat.

Tie but still defeat.

He didn't consider it a waste. Not really. He had earned the respect of a powerful trainer. He had strengthened his bond with all his Pokémon. And he had managed to defeat not one, but _two_ Legendaries in battle.

And yet, he'd been easily overwhelmed by Tobias, in spite of all his years of training. More than anything else, the Conference had proven just how much he still had to learn.

But where _could_ he learn? All the nearby Leagues had just finished; it would be months before they started again. The sole exception was the Orange League - the only one that he actually _had_ won before. Ash realized that he was still lacking the knowledge to pursue his dream to be a Pokémon master

Tired of the disheartening thinking, he got up, carefully moving Pikachu onto the bed without disrupting his friend's rest. He quietly closed the door behind him, and made for the kitchen. A snack could be the perfect thing to lift his spirits right about now.

After all, full stomachs made for lighter souls. Or something.

* * *

Delia Ketchum smiled as she heard the stairs creak. It was good to have her son back again. In fact, her son had been home for almost two weeks now - the longest he'd ever stayed since his journey began. With all the quality time she'd spent with him, she'd realized that he was maturing into a fine young man... and yet, she couldn't help but worry about his life.

She knew that he'd learned much across his journey. About friendship. About pokémon. About _survival_. But how much did he know about the finer qualities in life?

Still, she had faith - as always - that he would find a way to learn it. If he ever stirred himself out of that mood, anyways.

"Hey, Mom. What's cooking?" Ash sat down at the table between the two of them. On the steps down, his nose caught the delicious sent of his mother's cooking. His stomach had been craving this; Brock's food was great, but nothing could ever beat his mother's meals.

"Oh nothing much, just a soup that you used to enjoy while you were young," his mother smiled, serving him a bowl.

He grinned at that. "Aw, Mom. You know I like anything you make."

Delia smiled as she saw her son take to the soup. She'd raised his spirits, if only for the moment. She knew that she'd have to find a way to raise them longer than that, but there never seemed to be a right _time_...

Ash slurped down the soup, loving that hot, creamy feeling it sent down his esophagus. It was enough to _almost_ make him push all his other thoughts into the back of his mind.

But eventually - almost unconsciously - his eyes slid to the fireplace. His previous badges, and ranks sat behind a glass case on the mantel, displayed for all to see.

Delia noticed her son's eyes glazing over. She glanced at the half-empty bowl of soup, and frowned.

"Okay, Ash. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." He whipped his head back toward the soup.

Delia raised an eyebrow, but decided to drop the matter.

For now.

But it got Ash thinking again.

It would be so easy to become a doctor, or a breeder, or a stylist, or a coordinator, or anything else. There was barely any competition in those fields to begin with, and where there was, it wasn't much. Dawn. Brock. May. Even Misty... they had it_easy_.

But him? He was aiming for a title that thousands of other trainers wanted a crack at. Thousands of trainers with thousands of unique combinations of Pokémon and strategies, all strong in their own way. Usually.

Was it wrong of him to worry over his current situation? He had trained and traveled for over four years! Four years of villains like Team Rocket. Four years of gym leaders. Four years of friends, Legendary Pokémon, ancient conspiracies, and other impossible odds. Then along came a random trainer and **_bam_**. Back to square one he went.

It wasn't fair.

A voice in the back of his mind reminded him of a certain fellow he'd met in Sinnoh. Of how strong _that_ fellow's pokémon were. He swatted it aside.

He would never resort to Paul's methods. His pokémon deserved better than that.

So he turned his head and glanced at the glass case in the side of the wall. Every badge and trophy he'd ever won stared right back at him. Kanto. Orange Islands. Johto. Hoenn. Sinnoh...

They were laughing at him. Flukes. Those were his victories.

His head tilted down. What could he do?

"What is… wrong… with me?" He said slightly hitting his fist down on the table.

"Ash!" Delia said sharply. Something - Oak might have called it "maternal intuition" - told her that he was still thinking about the Lily of the Valley Conference.

"Oh, sorry Mom, I didn't mean that—"Ash tried to catch himself.

"Oh, no you don't," she scowled. As if her request was answered she now saw it as a perfect time to talk about his problem "You've been like this ever since you left the League."

Instead of answering, Ash tilted his head further down. Delia bit her lip and decided to cut to the chase.

"Ash, ever since you got back, all you've done is train with your Pokémon and coop yourself up in your room. And I know you're still thinking about your semifinal battle with that Darkrai trainer! You hardly said hello to anyone in town. I honestly expected you to rush up to Cerulean City to see your friend Misty as soon as you got home!"

Her son narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Delia softened her voice before continuing.

"Ash…. You mustn't let this get to you. It's... well, it's a learning experience."

"Mom..." he murmured "... I... I know that. But… what I really learned is that I'm still missing so much on my journey as a trainer." He then turned his head at her. "No matter what I do with my Pokémon or… myself even… I always come up with a wall in the road a … someone I just can't get past. And I'm not just talking about Tobias, it's also Paul and others too. Sometimes I honestly feel like my battles are just a fluke and-"

"NOW _THAT_ IS JUST _ENOUGH_, YOUNG MAN!" His mother practically yelled at Ash causing him to nearly jump out of his skin.

Delia heard enough. She would not allow her son to be in such… in such a pity party! Couldn't he see that he was a wonderful trainer? That he has done things most trainers couldn't? No, this was not the Ash Ketchum she raised.

"Mum?" Ash cringed at the disapproval in her eyes.

"Ash." She placed her hands on her hips. "You are not allowed to say another word about all of this."

She narrowed her eyes, threw a hand at the trophies, and continued.

"You have done more than most trainers - most _people_, for that matter - could ever do! I know that this is a tough time, _but!_ I know that you've gotten over these situations before. _And_ I know that you can go even further if you just _stop_ this self-inflicted DEPRESSION!

Silence filled the room. The temperature seemed to plummet twenty degrees.

Finally, Delia took a deep breath and spoke again. "Now since that's settled, how about you finish your soup before it gets cold?"

_She was right._

He _had_ inflicted the depressing state over himself. A bad mood would do nothing to help his cause. Why on earth had he put himself through this? Was it because he felt sorry for himself?

_You know the answer to that, you shameless liar._

He did. Just a moment ago, he'd been going over how easy other people had it. The thought made his stomach turn.

It was almost funny. He'd spent the last two weeks being a massive hypocrite. Turned out his mother couldn't stand such a thing, for he'd never seen her act that way before. Well, except for maybe that time he'd tried to wander off to the forest alone. He'd been young. He'd been dared by Gary. That had not been a pleasant night for him or for his rear end.

But never mind that. It was time to consider his options. For real.

He could reenter one of the Leagues. But if he did that, he would have to wait a good seven months to actually compete again. And seven months sounded like a recipe for his skills to _rot_. Most of his friends lived cities away from him - too far to set up any kind of practical training schedule. Pallet Town itself only had Tracey, and he... really wouldn't be much of a challenge.

Ash sighed. What else could he do? Become a random battling hermit who lived in a mountain, challenging anyone who climbed up there as soon as their eyes met? What kind of nitwit would do that?

(Several answers came to mind. Every single one of them made him shudder.)

He thought and thought and thought. And ran into dead end after dead end after dead end. This was not good.

Better training came from from action and experiences, not just practice. And there was no way he was going back to Pokéschool again. Not for all the championships in the world.

The hermit idea was beginning to look strangely appealing now.

No, wait. People learned from experiences. So all he had to do was recall his own, right?

His eyes drifted toward the fireplace. He _had_ done more than most people could in a lifetime, he supposed. But that still didn't tell him what he could do to further himself. He closed his eyes and began to tick off his previous League positions.

_Indigo Conference._

Top Sixteen.

_Silver Conference._

Top Eight.

_Ever Grande Conference._

Top Eight. Again.

_Lily of the Valley Conference._

Top Four.

His eyes snapped open again. Another sigh escaped his lips. Always _near_, never _there_...

But he had to smile as his eyes fell on a certain trophy behind the glass.

And next to that trophy sat the plaque containing all of the Symbols of the Kanto Battle Frontier. It might not have been an "official" league, but he couldn't help but be proud of winning it. Every battle had been different. Every battle had been _unique_. And winning the Battle Frontier had been the truest, sweetest victory he'd ever known.

Winning the Battle Frontier…

... Battle Frontier...?

Frontier Brains…

Winning... the…. Frontier Brains…

"THAT'S IT!"

He sprang from his seat and rushed over to the plaque, a string of words running through his mind. Words that had been spoken a year ago but might as well have been spoken yesterday.

_"… You have a choice to become a Frontier Brain yourself…"_

"Ash, dear, what's wrong now?" Delia said cautiously, worried that her soon was still brooding.

For a moment, Ash said nothing. Then-

"I... I..." He trembled slightly. "I think I want to become a Frontier Brain..."

He'd spoken so quietly that it took his mother a good minute to piece the words together. And another one to realize what they actually meant.

"A Frontier Brain?" Delia blinked. "Oh! Do you mean like the ones on the Battle Frontier?"

Her son turned to her. "Exactly. This is perfect. It's what I need to help me! Something entirely new! To be on the other side of the battlefield!"

As he spoke, he felt a fire burning inside him, from the tips of his toes all the way up to his amber eyes.

"The Frontier Brains are stronger than the gym leaders! Heck, they could even be on par with the Elite Four-"

He stopped as he heard a noise from above. It sounded remarkably like a panicked squeaking of, "PIIIKAAAA? PIIIKKKAAAPIII!"

"Ah! _Pikachu!_"

Before Delia could blink, her son was already halfway up the stairs, a trail of dust in his wake.

* * *

Ash rushed into his bedroom and grabbed Pikachu by the paws. Without missing a beat, he began to spin in place, swinging the small pokémon around by the arms.

"Pika?" Pikachu yelled. His efforts were now split between figuring out where his trainer's sanity had gone and making sure his lunch stayed it belonged. And quite frankly, didn't have high hopes for either goal.

"What do you say Pikachu?" Ash asked as he finally stopped spinning, all excitement spent. For now. "Do we want to pursue the path of a Frontier Brain?"

Pikachu made a warbled noise that _might_ have been a "Ppi-kaaa?" distorted beyond all recognition, and promptly slumped over.

Ash took that as a yes.

End of Chapter 1

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**I hoped you all liked it. I am a bit worried that this is a bit rushed too. Please let me know. Oh and remember this is my first fic but I promise you that I will put all my effort in it.**

**Thank you for your time.**

**(July 6th, 2014)  
Can't believe I was such a noob.  
Oh well gotta start somewhere.**

**Enjoy the rest of the story.  
Future editing will be done eventually.**


	2. Phone Call

**Edit (September 12th 2014)  
Hey this is True-InTha-Blue in the future with an edited Chapter 2!  
Once again thanks to the amazing skills of RubberLotusShipper!  
Who in his great kindness edits my chapters to which I am always thankful for.**

**I read everybody's' reviews and all I have to say is… that I'm Flattered. Honestly and truly I appreciate that you do like my story. I say thank you.**

**Now about my spelling… It's true I am not the best speller in the world but I will try to improve on that. I like your constructive criticism. So thanks for that. If you see any more mistakes I might make, whether it is spelling or that I am making the characters too OOC, or that I am making the story a-bit too rushed, please let me know, for I am hoping that writing at fanfiction will help me improve my creative writing skills. Oh and if any one sees that if I am not formating the way characters are suppose to talk please tell me. IN YOUR REVIEWS!**

**Thanks ****for getting the joke about Red. Thought someone might like that. ^-^**

**Also I will probably not get my chapter out this fast.**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

'_**From One Side to Another'**_

A Pokémon Fanfiction

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter Two

A Phone Call Away.

x

It took five minutes before Pikachu was able to focus again. It took twice that long before he and his trainer's mother could actually calm down said trainer and teach him the fine art of coherent speech.

"Now dear, are you sure about this?" Delia asked in concern. The prospect of her son going on a new journey didn't worry her much. The fact that the journey involved something that Ash had zero experience with was another matter.

"Yeah!" Ash exclaimed, a sheen taking over his eyes. And all of a sudden, he was ten years old again. "This could give me a whole new perspective on battling! Plus, the other Frontier Brains could help me out!"

Delia blinked in confusion. "What do you mean, Ash? I thought that most League members don't interact with each other that often, besides special occasions."

Ash shook his head. "That's what I thought too. Then I asked Max to look up some more info about the Battle Frontier when we had time. Turns out they actually get along with each other real well. They've got meetings every so often, and they talk about all kinds of new strategies and methods about battling."

"My," Delia breathed.

"And according to Max, they've got the ins and outs on what's going on in all the Pokémon Leagues! We're talking exclusive info!" Ash paused for a moment to let it all sink in. "It's a done deal, Mom!"

Mrs. Ketchum was still not thoroughly convinced. For all his bravado, her son might not be ready to take on the delicate responsibility of being a Frontier Brain. They were, like he'd said, stronger than typical gym leaders. And they probably had additional duties on top of it all.

But while Delia mused, Pikachu was almost as ecstatic as his trainer was. Having Ash back on his feet was encouraging enough. The prospect of them learning how to get stronger was even better. "Pikapika Pi?"

"That's right Pikachu!" Ash picked up his oldest friend again. "We'll get to see all the Frontier Brains again! Betcha can't wait to see Brandon, and Lucy, and Noland, and Tucker-"

Pikachu gave him a look.

"... okay, maybe not Tucker. But there's still Anabel, and Greta, and Spencer! Who knows what more they can tell us?"

Delia perked up. "You and Pikachu seem to know these people pretty well for just battling them."

Both of them nodded "Yeah well… they helped us out a lot with my battles. Even though they were trying to defeat me they also… I guess… wanted me to learn. Pikachu and I remember almost every detail about the battles. They were incredibly fun."

"Pikachu!" The mouse Pokémon agreed.

Shaking his head to collect his thought he asked "So can I please do it? Something's telling me that this could really change a lot of things. Can you think about it?"

What he didn't know was that she had already been thinking about it, from the moment she'd first heard him say it. Every word that came out of Ash's mouth showed her that he was maturing; this was not the rashness of a boy who saw something new, but of a young man who felt in his heart that this was the way to go.

_Maybe… _she thought. _This is what will lead him to a finer life._

"Ash." She looked her son straight in the eye. "Most people would consider this decision a very rash one, especially when you're only fourteen years old."

"Oh." Ash's voice grew much, much smaller.

"Pika…" Pikachu's ears drooped.

"But!"

Two heads perked up in unison.

Delia began to smile. "But I see that you are ready for this. Believe it or not, Ash, you're growing up. I should let you follow your heart again, especially when it's carried you this far. So yes, you can go out and become a Frontier Brain."

Ash's eyes widened. "Really? Ah, Geez! Thanks, Mom!"

She watched her son high-five Pikachu; a second later, both of them had peeled out the door. She sighed, hoping that she had made the right choice.

* * *

Pikachu ran alongside Ash down the road that led to Professor Oak's lab. Though they could've used his Mom's phone to call Scott; they needed the Professor to get the phone number. While Ash was a great trainer and all, it was kind of hard for him to remember a ten-digit number that he'd been given a year ago.

They picked up the pace as they headed up the stairs. They were almost to the doorway around the corner when–

"OOF!"

Pikachu turned around to see his trainer sitting on the hard cement ground, rubbing his rear end with a look of mild pain. A second later, Ash perked up with a scowl.

"Hey! Why don't you—Oh, Tracey! I didn't see you!"

Lo and behold, it was his old friend from the Orange Islands - bandanna, backpack, and all. Scrambling to his feet, Ash gave Pokémon sketcher a hand up.

"Heh heh. Sorry about that, Tracey," Ash grinned, a hand clapped to the back of his head.

Good old Tracey Sketchit, after all these years, was still Professors Oak's Lab assistant. Always eager to help with a mundane - and sometimes not so mundane - task here and there. Once upon a time, he'd been one of Ash's traveling companions, but now...

"It's alright, Ash. I wasn't exactly paying attention either." Tracey dusted himself off. "Uumm… what's the hurry, Ash?"

"Oh, right. Well, Pikachu and I are going off to a journey!" Ash's enthusiasm faded exactly three seconds later. "But I kinda need a phone number."

Tracy then noticed Ash's sudden change in behavior that he has been in the past week. "That's great, Ash. Glad to see you back on your feet now."

Ash cringed. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Pikachu's head.

"Was I really that bad?"

Tracy grinned. "Kind of…"

"How's your Marill doing?" Ash asked quickly.

Tracy latched himself in this conversion. "She's doing great. You've seen Misty's Azurill, right? Well, since she's his mother, it's natural that he misses her a lot. So I've been taking her over to Cerulean city lately to see him. I still can't figure out who the father is, though."

Ash grinned at this. "So, you seen Misty? How is she doing? I've been thinking about seeing her. "

Tracey's smile became a teasing one. "Oh, missing your girlfriend, are we? Hmmmm?"

Ash blinked. "… Tracy, I know what my friend's gender is."

The Pokémon sketcher resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Well, yes, Misty is doing alright. I think she's still trying to pursue her dream of becoming the ultimate Water Pokémon Master."

Suddenly, he sidled close to Ash's ear and dropped his voice to a near whisper.

"By the way, Ash? If I were you, I would steer clear of her for a while. Or just keep out of Cerulean City altogether."

"Why?"

Tracy's face began to look nervous "Think about it, if Misty found out that you have been here for two weeks without you telling her… what do you think she might do to you…. Or me for that matter?"

Ash's face suddenly began to mirror Tracey's. "Oh… Yikes."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. And I'd like to keep seeing you with all your limbs, Ash."

With the conversation becoming awkward Tracy decided to change the topic.

"So if you are starting a new journey then why do you need a phone number?" he asked

"Oh, to call Scott," Ash said casually.

Tracy tried to rembered that name before. "Wait… isn't he the guy who recruited you to the Battle Frontier?"

"Bingo."

"But I thought you finished it."

"Yeah… well... I never really told anyone this, mostly because I never considered it, but, when I completed the Battle Frontier, Scott offered me a position as a Frontier Brain. I am thinking it will be a good experience for me to learn. You know, be on the other side of the battle field and all that." He explained

Now Tracy was impressed. He always thought that Ash would be one of those guys who never stopped moving. But now Ash was just basically saying that it would be a good idea to stop, and try a new tactic to further his dream.

"Well Ash. I hope you do well." Tracy said "but you do know that this will probably be different than anything you done before."

Ash nodded "I know, but I have Pikachu" pointing at his lifelong partner "and I know the Brains will help me out a bit. So...No need to worry." quoting Dawn's catchphrase. "Any way, I gotta go. Bye Tracy and I hope you have a good day!"

"Thanks Ash! And good luck!"

'…_Man that kid is dense about girls._'

* * *

Peace and quiet. Just how Professor Samuel Oak liked it. No people bothering him for tips on Pokémon care that would take five seconds to look up in the Pokédex. No Pokémon making noise or 'hugging' him. Just himself and his very important work in peace, calm and-

**BAM!**

"GAUHHH!"

**CRASH!**

"HEY PROFESSOR OAK!" a very loud and very familiar voice rang in his ears. "I WAS WONDERING IF…"

_Figures. At this point 'it's quiet - too quiet' should probably be declared some universal law._

"Professor Oak! What are you doing lying on the floor like that?" Ash yelled seeing the Pokémon scientist on his back with his chair in the air.

"Oh… it's… you Ash. I… should've… known." Oak struggled to his feet. He was getting too old for this. "What do you need, Ash? Make it quick, because I am very busy."

Ash had to smirk. "Actually, you're doing poetry." To further his point, the young trainer gestured toward Pikachu, who was holding the professor's latest haiku and giving it a once-over.

"Pika-pi," Pikachu offered his expert opinion as he put the paper down.

"I… I… uumm…" The Professor twitched.

The duo chuckled.

"Sorry for disturbing your important 'work', Professor" Ash continued. "But I was wondering if you had Scott's phone number."

"Pi-Pi."

Professor Oak grunted. "Of course, but young man, I must ask, why do you need his number?"

"To become a Frontier Brain."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"Pi."

Samuel Oak couldn't believe it. "But… But you're still so _young_, Ash."

"No, I'm not."

The Professor's brows furrowed. "Explain."

Ash sighed. "When I was in the Battle Frontier, I saw something. You know the sixth Brain? The second-strongest one? She was actually a girl my age."

"So… that means you can join."

"That's what I said."

Professor Oak sighed again. He was _really_ getting too old for this. Now all sorts of young people can gain a rank that was usually reserved for an adult. Still, facts were facts.

He tore a slip of paper away from a nearby notepad, and scribbled a number on it. Then he pressed the paper into Ash's hand.

"Alright, Ash. Go, And good luck."

"Yeah but Professor—"

"Go."

"But—"

"Go!"

The boy and his ever-faithful Pokémon companion went straight out the door, hurling thanks over their shoulders.

_Finally. Alone at last with my..._

The Professor froze.

"… wait, did he give me back my Haiku?"

* * *

_Later..._

"Pika pika, pi?"

"Yeah, I'm nervous too."

The two of them stared at the Video Phone in front of them for what felt like a year. Finally, Ash stared to dial the numbers. His hands shook with every key he touched.

_Why am I nervous?_ he thought. _It's just a phone call to Scott. You remember Scott. Good ol' laid-back Scott? Never gets angry Scott?_

Then the phone started ringing. Ash felt his stomach fall into his shoes.

**_Riiiinggg._**

_**Riiiinnnggg.**_

_**Riiinnnggg.**_

**_Riiinn—_**

"Hello?"

A portly man filled the screen, all decked out in a blue flower-print shirt and sunglasses. And Ash's nervousness vanished into the ether just like that.

"Hey Scott! It's us, Ash and Pikachu, you remember?"

They saw Scott tilt his glasses down to get a better look. "WOW! Is that you Ash? You _have_ grown since Sinnoh! Man, the TV did not lie."

"Wait, you been watching me in the League?"

Scott chuckled. "Well, why wouldn't I, Ash? And it's not just me. All the Brains have been keeping tabs on your journey. Why, we were even rooting for you when you faced off against Tobias! I mean, what a match that was!"

Just the sound of that name was like an ice-pick through the gut. Ash felt his enthusiasm plunge. _Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all…_

While Ash got lost in his thoughts Pikachu decided to engage the conversation. "Pika Pikachu! Pi Pika-chu?"

"Well, it's nice to see you too, Pikachu. Tell me, have you gotten stronger?"

Pikachu flexed his paws and let sparks of electricity fill up his cheek pouches. "Pikaaaa!"

The Battle Frontier head laughed. He honestly loved the enthusiasm just radiating off the two. But then he noticed that one of them wasn't looking so enthusiastic after all.

"Hey, Ash. Are you alright, pal?"

Ash snapped out of his thoughts and wiped the glazed look off his face. "Oh, yeah. I just got distracted by something."

"Alrighty then. So, why did you call me, Ash? And I can tell it wasn't just for a friendly chat."

Ash turned to look at Pikachu, then back to Scott. And he let go of a breath he wasn't even aware he'd been holding.

"Actually, Scott, I wanted to take you up on that offer you gave me a year ago…"

He paused. Then he stiffened up his spine and continued.

"I would like to become a Frontier Brain!"

End of Chapter 2

* * *

**Remember**** folks that Ash is going through puberty, so expect mood swings (but not dramatic ones, he is not bi-polar people)**

**Like it? Dislike it, but hopefully not hate it? Tell me by your Reviews! Oh! I am trying really hard to get the story sections a bit more organized. I have tried several methods and most of them do not work. But I will persist! FOR I HAVE A DARKRAI! (Best Dark Pokémon…EVER!)**

**Though I can't Wait to get a Zekrom. I SUPPORT POKEMON BLACK AND WHITE. (don't diss them) **


	3. Paper work and Paychecks

**Hello my loyal fans! Chapter 3 is up. And its… a bit boring… but hey that's character development. It is not always in the greatest events but sometimes it comes in the normal stuff. Don't worry though, Ashy-boy still has a lot of growing up to do. So enjoy chapter 3**

* * *

_**From One Side to Another**_

A Pokémon Fanfiction

By True-Intha-Blue

Chapter 3

'Paper Work and Paychecks'

"…That is, if the offer still stands…" Ash trailed off.

Ash noticed that Scott has been quiet for sometime time now while he was talking. He could start to feel the cold trickle of sweat creep down his neck. His hand itched to pull his collar in anxiety but he resisted. He was a Pokémon trainer after all and Pokémon trainers do not show nervousness.

Finally Scott spoke up. "Well Ash, normally the offer to be a Frontier Brain is decide upon a four out of seven vote by the other brains, once someone declines the offer that's it."

Ash and Pikachu could feel their spirit snuff out like a charizards tail in water.  
"Oh" was all he could say. All their best hopes for improving themselves wasted. '_Well, I guess I could… still become a mountain hermit.'_

"You, however, were not this case."

"What?"  
"Pika?"

Scott started to smile at the two. "Actually when I called the vote for you, all seven of the Frontier Brains voted for you. All of them and I were completely impressed by your dedication and benevolence to your Pokémon, your performance in battles and your unwavering determination.  
"So even if I was against it, I can assure you that the others would do anything in their power to let you be one of them."

Pikachu and Ash looked at each other in hope before asking "So that's means…"

"Yep," Scott answered "you can still become a Frontier Brain."

"All Right!"  
"Pikachu!"

Scott chuckled as the two jumped up in the air in celebration.  
"But!"

They stopped in mid jump "But what?"

"Becoming a Frontier Brain isn't as simple as it seems." Scott's face suddenly became sneaky "Though you may have defeated the Brains in battle, you still have a lot to learn. There are some... 'special' things you need to do."

Ash eyes narrowed "Like what?" he was beginning to become impatient; he wanted to start learning as soon as possible.

"Easy there Ash. I can't tell you the whole thing over the phone. You need to come to Saffron City to see me with the others. Can you do it?"

Both of them crossed their arms; Ash replied "Of course! I can even get there today!"

Scott sweat dropped at this. "How bought tomorrow at noon? In case you have forgotten, some of the Frontier Brains live quiet away from there."

"Oh right." Ash said sheepishly "Okay, I'll be there tomorrow! Right Pikachu?"

"Pikachu!" The electric type replied fiercely.

"Alright Ash. Better get a move on that packing. I have some calls to make" Scott waved him off "See ya later Ash."

"Yeah, bye Scott." With that the screen went blank.

As they started walking toward his house again, the two partners could feel their excitement rush up, begging for release.

"Common Pikachu! I'll race ya!"  
Pikachu couldn't help but comply.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at wherever Scott was at the moment. The creator of the Battle Frontier was currently shacking his booty in joy as he sang "I got a Frontier Brain! Ash is becoming a Frontier Brain!" Not wasting any more time, he whipped out his laptop.

Now to anyone else, this would look like a plain ordinary laptop, but it wasn't. This was a custom made machine that not only stored vast amounts of data, but also acted a particular Video Phone, a multi conference call, Video Phone.

There were only eight of these in existence, one belonged to him and the others… well I bet you can guess who.

Scott's fingers skimmed the keyboard in a flurry of clicks. He hoped that for once that the guys wouldn't be lazy today and actually being where they were supposed to be at this time. Luckily whoever ran things in the universe was smiling on him (or smirking on him), for he was soon greeted by six faces… wait, six?

"Oish! Scott good to see you!" Greta waved.

"Oh. It is nice to see you Scott, what's the occasion?" asked Anabel.

"Good afternoon Scott." Brandon said sternly.

"My friend, it is fabulous to see your wonderful face again." exaggerated Tucker.

"Hello Scott, you're still looking jubilant as ever." Spencer smiled.

"Yeah, nice to see you." Lucy stated.

Scott nodded. "Yeah great to see everyone… except someone is missing…"

"Noland." Everyone muttered.

"Oi, Noland get up!" Greta yelled at his screen containing an empty deck. A moment later they all heard an "OUCH." And saw Noland coming from under the desk rubbing his head.

"Arrrhh! Come on! Couldn't this wait? I was trying to get some slee—Oh …Scott! It's you… heh heh. You didn't hear that did you? "

An annoyed look crossed Brandon's face. "You do know that this is the time we are suppose to fill out IMPORTANT paper work, instead of sleeping under the desk like a snorlax!"

"Yeah, well… I can't be the only one who doesn't always do the forms!"

"You better be." Scott quipped at him. "He is… right guys?"

Instantly the others began to look preoccupied with anything else than looking at Scott. If he didn't have his glasses on, you could see his eye muscle twitch. "You guys are killing me!" He cried dramatically in his hands.

Lucy rolled her eyes, annoyed with the petty affairs that Noland usually gets himself, and eventually the others, into. Focusing on the task at hand she said to the others "Hey Scott, we'll 'try' to do better at the more… informative part of our jobs but why did you really call us?"

"Oish! She's right!" Perked Greta. "It's not every day that you call us all at once, especially when the Battle Frontier is still a good four months away." The other Brains nodded in agreement.

"All right guys, its time you need to know." Scott adjusted himself in to the right air. "But to get you back for distracting me, I'll torture you further by making it into a riddle."

"What?"  
"Not Again!"  
"Crrrrruuuuddddd!"

He laughed inwardly at thier compliants. "I made THEE offer to a young trainer once upon a time. He is an enthusiastic kid; do you know who he is?"

Spencer tapped his cane in annoyance "Come now Scott, I am old and my memory is not as good as it used to be. Try another one."

"Can anyone else guess?" Scott asked "How about you Anabel?"

The Salon Maiden shook her head. "Well there are a lot of people you could have asked Scott. But no one in particular, in general opinion of course, that comes to mind. Brandon your better at these things then I am; do you have any thoughts?"

The PokeRuins expert sighed "No."

"You need to do better than that, my companion Scott. We need more detail on this cloaked trainer you presented us." Tucker told their boss.

Shaking his head, Scott said "Well apparently my skills in riddling are not that good—"  
"More like no skills." Noland snickered.  
Scott cleared his throat with annoyance. "Yes.. like I was saying, not that good, so here is another hint. We gave it to him about a year ago."

"Nope, no one is coming to mind" said Lucy

Then again no one was trying. They respected their boss, no doubt about that. But sometimes, Scott could be a bit tedious. He was not always the guy who they could understand. Besides this was getting boring, Brandon really wanted to check out some new maps of some ruins he found. Anabel was itching to test out a new move with one of her Battle Tower participants. And Tucker was in dire need to find a new wardrobe; he didn't want to get dull for his fabulous fans.

It was obvious to everybody that this conversation was getting nowhere. Now Scott was a calm guy, he prided himself for remaining a cool cat in any situation. But no one, No One, except the Frontier Brains could make him snap.

"OH FOR PETS SAKES! We started his fan club!"

It was almost painful for him to watch the guys eyes widen on the monitor in realization. He could practically hear their thoughts go 'oooohhhh'  
It was a good thing he wore sun glass or they would've seen his eyes roll.

"Do you mean the same kid that made me thaw out my Medicham for a week?"

"The one guy who can get out of tough situations by using unorthodox strategies?"

"The foolish boy who rashness is almost as big as his love for people and Pokémon?"

Now he had them "Yep you got him. Our Newest Frontier Brain…" He paused for dramatic silence. "The One and Only…Ash Ketchum!" Adding a pose to boot, he waited for their response to the good news.

He did not, however, expect the silence that came after it.

….

…

"WHY DIDN"T YOU SAY SO?"

The voices were so loud that Scott was almost sure that the speakers would burst. The Frontier Brains were overtaken with panic.

"Criminy Scott! I'm half way to Johto by now!"

"What? I need to leave NOW in order to just get there!"

"Do you know how many appointments I need to cancel because of this?"

"I need My SLEEP!"

Lucy had enough "QUUUIIIIEEEETTT!"

They halted in their step, frozen in the shock of the Pike Queen's 'other' voice. "Now Scott… where are we suppose to meet?"

…

"Scott?"

"Oh um.. yeah." Snapping out of his stupor. "W… We're going to meet at… Saffron..City, tomorrow at noon… heh. So everybody get ready and I will see you all soon."

"Right." They all said

"Oh by the way…"

"?"

"I'm docking all of your paychecks for a month for not doing the paperwork when you need to. Bye everyone!" Scott logged off.

"NOLAND!"

* * *

_Back in Pallet Town…_

Night was falling and Mrs. Ketchum was wondering what was taking Ash and Pikachu so long to talk to the Battle Frontier leader. But it wasn't long before she heard the two's familiar voices in the front yard.

"Pikachu! Pika pi chu Pikapi!"  
"Hey, that's not fair! You ran on all fours!"  
"Pikaaachu! Ka-chu!"  
"Okay.. you win."

Ash and Pikachu finally finished their race, which was meant to be from the lab to the house but somehow got to be from the lab around the town and then to the house.  
Hearing the door open, his mom came to greet them but was instead met with a few blurs of color streaking past her, with a bundle of words.

"HEYMOMHOWSITGOING? GOTTAGOPACKTOBEAFRONTIERBRAIN!" Ash zoomed up to his room, with Pikachu trailing behind him.

Mrs. Ketchum sighed. So this is it. Once again, Ash was heading out on his own on another grand adventure, leaving her alone and worried about him. _'But it is alright.' _She thought. '_he still has a lot to learn.'_  
She really should've expected this sooner. After all Ash had been here for two weeks, longer than any other time he stayed here since he began his journey. Such was the life of a Ketchum woman.

After a little while Delia had a dinner ready for her son and his Pokémon, she figured that he and Pikachu would be hungry after all the running they did earlier. Opening the door revealed Ash sitting the bed with Pikachu resting on his lap. Both looking rather drained; it appears that they finally used up the last of their energy for today. Hearing the noise of someone approaching, Ash looked up to see her. "Mom." He mouthed, slightly surprised. Setting aside Pikachu, he went up to her.

Delia smiled at him while saying "I brought up some dinner for you I case you were hungry." She almost laughed at the relief on his face when he took his meal. But then he did something unexpected, instead of chowing down like he normally would, he set his meal aside to talk to her.

"Hey mom… I …wanted to say thanks. I kinda didn't do it this morning." He turned away shyly. "So... Thanks for talking me out of my …'Pity Party'."

Smiling, Delia turned around to head out, knowing that everything will turn out alright.

End of Chapter 3

* * *

**I know boring chapter but it what I could do. Don't worry chapter 4 will be more actiony and get on with the plot more. This chapter was mainly an experiment for me to test out the Frontier Brain's personalities. I didn't like how 'From Servant to Stardom' skipped over the characters who had to be the most potentially interesting personalities (except Brock) in the whole Pokemon series. (especially when they get in the same room) Oh and about that 'fan club' Scott was talking about... well.. you'll find out soon enough. Just keep reading "From One Side to Another'!**

**I Really LIKE your reviews! They Motivate me! Tell your friends about me!**

**Saw Pokémon Black and White on Saturday. Ash's new eyes creep me out and I don't know why, but I do like the improved animation. (though I hate how they made Ash look like an idiot, AGAIN, in the first and second episode). **

**P.S. I am struggling with ideas for more pokemon for on Anabel's team, if anyone has any ideas (not all of them psychic types please.) please post on your reviews. In fact you can include some for Greta, Lucy, Spencer, and Tucker as well.**


	4. A Flying We Go

**Howdy every one! Once again thank you so much for the wonderful reviews (gosh I sound like Tucker -_-) Here is the more actiony and plot related chapy I promised you!**

**Oh and some thanks are in order:**

**_Tobi Katsura_ and_ Blaaaziken._**

**I really do appreciate your strait to the point criticism about the story. I really do hope this is better then the previous Three chapters in terms of formating.**

**Also I would like to thank everyone else for just commenting and putting up great ideas for the Frontier Brains Pokemon  
I really really like them. **

**Any way Enjoy CHAPTER FOOUUURRR!**

******Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another.

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 4

A Flying We Go.

If chaos could be personified, then it would be the Frontier Brains right now. They had no warning about Scott's sudden announcement, thus throwing them in to a loophole of turmoil and disorganization. They rushed to get themselves ready to head out to Saffron City, but they were all excited for Ash's initiation in to the Battle Frontier. As night got nearer things started to cool down:

Noland prepared his biplane, unfortunately he trouble with the screws; a bunch of energetic aron tried to eat them. There was also the trouble of picking which pokemon he wanted to bring with him. They practically begged him to come with him, except Articuno, the legendary bird couldn't go with him despite that it wanted to but he had to explain carefully to it that a legendary uncaptured pokemon would cause a pandemic.

Greta was hung up telling all her trainees at her dojo that she had to go for a few days. Every one, especially the men were crying for their Tycoon's departure. But to calm them down she promised that she and her pokemon would kick their butts when she got back. Her men stopped crying, weather it was out of fear or joy, she couldn't tell.

Tucker already had his Pokemon ready. They were prepped and rested. His waved his many fans off into the night and signed all their autographs. His precious Battle Dome all cleaned. Now he faced the greatest challenge once again… which clothes should he wear?

Lucy was finally able to get rid of her women posse. She took things slowly, the initiation would come and she WOULD be ready. After looking over her squinty eyed pokemon she began to think about tomorrow… But mostly she was thinking of our favorite spiky haired boy who can't help himself when he sees a girl. She didn't care much for the initiation but she was wondering if Ash would be traveling with the object of her hidden affection.

Spencer was taking things easy. First he would get a bottle of water then he would call over his pokemon from the forest and… Alright this is slow. Let's just skip him.

Remember during Scott's conference were that one guy was half way to Johto? That was Brandon. As soon as the call ended, Brandon had to rush to the pilot's room and immediately told him to head to Saffron City. Unfortunately, making such a sudden change of schedule would cause problems with a lot of museums and appointments with quite a few elite scientists interested in his work; all resulting, for poor Brandon, with more accursed paperwork.

Then there was Anabel. She was more then capable of dealing with the sudden change of schedule. All she had to do was announce to her Battle Tower competitors that it building would be closed for a few days. Now with not much to do, she could keep her mind off Ash. She couldn't help it, she really, really liked him. He was… everything that she liked in a person. Funny, excitable, honest, and compassionate; She was amazed by his dedication to both his friends and his Pokemon. She watched his defeat on the Sinnoh league and being a person who could detect emotions much more easily than the average person, she could tell that something happed to him over there, and from what Brandon told her about his latest run-in with Ash well… that only proved her theory.

But no matter what, all the Frontier Brains had one thing on their minds…

Which one would he choose?

* * *

_The next day…_

Just before they left for Saffron City, Ash was fixing his Sinnoh cap on his head while he went over in his head to make sure he had everything for the trip.

_Sinnoh garb?_

He looked down.

Check!

_Poke'dollers, about 100,000?_

He felt the large wad in his backpack.

Check!

_Sinnoh team?_

He clicked on the five Pokeballs to his belt.

Check!

_Pikachu?_

Pikachu hoped on his shoulder.

Check!

_The extra stuff he usually brought with him on journeys?_

Well he would find out soon enough.

Yeah, he was ready.

After saying his final goodbyes to everyone, he and Pikachu headed out. Normally, if he was traveling with a group he would travel at their pace, usually taking days to reach one destination to another. But this time it would be different, all he had for companionship would be his pokemon.

And Pokemon is what he was going to use.

"Staraptor! Come on out!" He cried throwing one of his pokeballs

In a flash a light appered a fierce hawk-like pokemon, its talons as sharp as razors, and red eyes that showed friendliness.

"Staaarrrr." He cried.

Ash petted the predator pokemon. "Hey Staraptor, enjoying your time in my home region?"

Staraptor nodded its head, fiercly agreeing with its trainer. The weather in Kanto was warmer then Sinnoh which meant it was easier to fly higher to feel the sun on its back.

Smiling Ash asked "Would like see more of it, especially Saffron?" He tried to be subtle.

"Starrrrrr…"

"Alright, I kinda need a ride." Realizing he failed.  
Rolling his eyes, Staraptor turned around and gestured to his trainer to get on.  
"Thanks."

After making sure Pikachu had a good grip on his shoulder he got on the bird pokemon. As soon as he did, Staraptor started to flap its powerful wings; in a few seconds they were off to the blue sky.

The view was amazing, and Ash saw hey weren't the only ones up there. Natus, jumpluff, taillow, wingull and all sorts of flying types were riding the wind across the sky. The sight called a previous experience when Ash flew with his Pidgeot causing a feeling of nostalgia to weld up inside of him. He will always miss his first flying type pokemon but he has made new friends to help patch up the hole in his heart, never replacing it but helping to sow it up.

After a while Ash began to get worried, the sun was reaching nearer toward the center of the sky and Saffron City was still a bit a way. He was conflicted to ask Staraptor to go faster; he could tell that the pokemon was tiring by the wing beats getting slower and slower, but he really didn't want to be late for the Battle Frontier. He knew that first impressions had a big effect on them.

He then felt Pikachu tugging on his shirt. "Pikapi! Pikachu Pi!" He saw him pointing toward an object in front of them. Looking at it closely, Ash saw that their destination was close. He could see Saffron City's golden light just ahead.

Sensing his trainer's impatience Staraptor kicked it up a notch, focusing on the goal at hand.  
Ash and Pikachu were too, focused completely on the city. However this would prove to be a grave mistake.

For they didn't noticed when the other pokemon in the sky fled in terror.  
They didn't hear the mechanic noise of a metal arm wiz up to them.  
What they did notice is that, as soon as they reached the outskirts of the city Staraptor was taken right out under Ash.

As if in slow motion Ash could see his flying type going away from him, trapped within a clawed metal hand; he could see Pikachu losing his grip on his shoulder and when he did, another clawed hand grabbed his buddy as well.

He could feel himself falling closer toward the ground until he too found himself in a tight grip.

Finally focusing, Ash saw a huge humanoid machine with three tube arms and a giant bright red R slashed across the middle. _'Aw.. Come On! Can't I go one day with out these three stalking me?'_ He thought angrily.

Ash huffed and tried to think of a plan to get out before they started to sing that annoying song. But the song didn't come, neither did the familer voices. Instead a different tune came out of the mecha.

"_Look out! Here comes the tide!"_

"_Crashing in and sweeping you aside!"_

"_Bring destruction and ruin across the plain!"_

"_Hold on tight now, you're going to be in pain!"_

"_Cassidy!"_

"_Butch!"_

"_Shuckle!"_

They struck a pose.

"_Filling this world with fire is our quest!"_

"_Don't try to stop us because Team Rocket is the best!"_

"HAHAHAHHAHA!"

Now that Ash got a good look at them, he instantly remembered these other, and more capable, members of Team Rocket… almost.

"Cassidy! And… and… umm.. Bill? No.. that not it… Bob? No that's not it either…"

As Ash mused, Cassidy quickly turned to her partner to see his reaction to the common mistake to his name again. And once again Butch was seething in anger, and with good reason. The twerp just heard his name five seconds ago, so why didn't he remember it? Whatever the reason was, Butch wasn't going to let it go.

"Hey TWERP!" He yelled "I just told ya my name in our song seconds ago!"

Despite of the situation of him being captured, Ash huffed and retaliated "Well maybe I would remember it if you guys would actually say _MY_ name! It's not twerp just so you know!"

Butch could feel his eye twitch "Fine I'll say your name if you can say mine!" He watched Ash go into deep thought, deeper than anyone he had seen anyone who thought about his name. Maybe there was hope…

"AHA! I got it!" Ash declared.

Butch stared at him with starry eyes.

"IT ROMEO!"

…

…

"Pi?"

"Staarr?"

"Isn't it?"

Then Ash felt the claw tighten to incredible measures, making him cry out in pain. Cassidy saw her partner pressing a button on the machines remote in anger. "Now don't crush him 'Romeo' we still need the rest of his pokemon." Grudgingly, Butch let go of the button; feeling the relief of the claw loosen Ash glared angrily at the duo.

"Why do you guys always follow me?" He shouted. "I defeated you time and time again."

The evil couple laughed at him. "Aw, did we make the little boy mad?" Cassidy cackled "Why my dear it's because you're the perfect target for our plans."

Ash glared at them. "What do you mean perfect?"

It was Butch turn to answered. "Because TWERP! We saw you at the Sinnoh League; your Pokemon are strong but not that strong! They are capable enough for the faculty we are trying to infiltrate—" Butch stopped himself before revealing to much about Team Rocket's secret plans. He tried to change the subject by taunting Ash further. "Now we could go after someone like that Tobias person but he's so strong that we would be blasting off before we could ever lay a hand on him." He mocked.

To prove him wrong Ash tried to reach for his Pokeballs on his belt but the clawed hand prevented it; helplessly he looked up at his Pokemon. Their faces we're worried for him and themselves. His eyes narrowed and his fist clench; he wanted to defy them, to show them that he was strong enough that they shouldn't lay a hand on him. But a tiny voice rang in his mind, twisting a truth out of Butch and Cassidy's malicious words. _'It's true.'_ It said. _'If you we stronger you wouldn't be in this mess.'_

The twisted two were laughing their heads off at Ash predicament. Catching her breath, Cassidy she wanted to have the last word before ending this. "Now Butch…" She pretended to scold him. "Stop torturing the poor boy. It's not his fault that he's so—"

"VENUSAUR! Use Razor Leaf!"

"HUH?"

Suddenly green blurs cut through the arms that held Ash, Pikachu and Staraptor. Acting out on instinct and habit Staraptor instantly caught Pikachu on its back …but then that left someone out.

"STAARRRRR!"

"PIKAPI!"

Ash.

They were up so high that they couldn't possibly catch him before he reached the ground; all they could do is painfully watch him fall and fall.

Ash knew that he was falling again and this time there would be no hands to catch him, he also knew that Staraptor couldn't possibly reach him. But for some reason fear didn't overtake his mind like it should have. No, there was only one thing coursing through it; his tactical mind as a trainer. Images and methods flashed through his mind deciding which way would be best for him to survive this.

Wasting no time, Ash adjusted his body to survive the fall. He closed his eyes and waited for the impact of the hard cement road.

…

He did hit something.

But it wasn't hard cement. It was soft…and … Polleny?

"Venusaauuur?"

Opening his eyes, Ash found himself in a giant flower, or to be exact, a venusaur's flower.

Immediantly, he jumped down to be met by the face of the flower's holder. Detecting that this wasn't someone's random pokemon, Ash took a close look at it's face until something clicked in his mind.

"Wait… Aren't you Spencer's Venusaur?"

"He better be Ash. Or I would have been carrying the wrong pokemon." An old friendly voice answered him.

"That wouldn't be the first time." snapped another.

Recognizing these voices, Ash's head whipped around to see figures going toward confronting the giant Rocket robot:

The first six battle Frontier Brains.

Ash blinked because he didn't recognize them, but it was only for an instant; they changed their clothes.

Noland was dressed up in an old pilot uniform but still kept his red hat.

Greta sported a red tang top with a pair of hakama (traditional samurai pants)

Tucker discarded his… 'uniform' for a black business dress suit with giant white buttons in front.

Lucy changed the least, still keeping her slacks, she only changed her tube top for a plain purple shirt.

Spencer was… still the same.

Anabel lacked her Victorian styled cloths in favor of a white shirt, a pair of capri pants, white shoes and striped socks. With accessories of a fanny pack, a orange bandanna around her neck with a camera. One of the most significant of these was the green hat that toped it all off.

"Guys!" He cried in relief and amazement.

The Frontier Brains quickly greeted him with a "Hi Ash!" before turning their attention back to Team Rocket with Spencer's grass-type joining them.

The duo was currently shocked on how easily they were caught off guard. And by an old man no less.

"Hey Idiots!" Noland yelled. "Normally I would like to battle with you bad guys, but we and Ash over there are going to be late for an appointment. So can you.. like leave?"

An insult, Butch and Cassidy thought. How dare they take them so lightly! Do those people know who they were dealing with?

Butch, who already was losing most of his temper, summoned his pokemon at them.

"Go! Show them that were not to be messed with!"

In a flash a primape, hitmotop, mightyena, cloister, and ageron surrounded the Frontier brains with Shuckle joining the fray.

Butch laughed at their crisis, but quickly stopped when he saw that they were unimpressed. A bored look crossed over their faces, some of them crossed their arm as if annoyed with the foes that surrounded them; in fact they were actually intimidating some of his pokemon instead of the other way around.

"Cassidy! Where are your pokemon? We need to crush these fools with the pure brute of out power!" he yelled.

Cassidy who was watching the 'battle' snapped back to attention. "Get out here, show them what you got."

Then the frontier brains had to deal with a drowzee, hounder sableye, tenrtacruel, granbul and a charizard.

There were now 12 Pokemon on the battle field, ready to stomp the life out of the obstinate trainers.

Greta yawned "Well I admit these Pokémon do have potential."

"What are you talking about women?" Cassidy yelled at her. "These are Team Rocket born and bred Pokemon! They are better than the average! They can—"

Lucy interrupted her "She complimented them, dimwits."

"Oh.. well—"

"To bad these wonderful candidates are already wasted on such petty causes." Tucker sighed dramatically.

Mean while, Ash was amazed by the brazen of the Frontier Brains; if it was him out their he would be worried like heck, but somehow he knew that the guys had it under control. He tried to stifle a laugh when he saw the absolute fury on their faces after Tucker finished his sentence, it would be only a matter of time before they let their tempers fly.

"You're in no position to talk to us like that." Cassidy pointed to their Pokemon. "You are out number 1 to 12! Even if you summoned all your Pokemon, they would weak compared to ours…"

She started to hesitate when she saw the Frontier Brains expressions changed dramatically.

"You must not know of the Frontier Brains of the Battle Frontier very well." Spencer said.  
"So we'll enlighten you." Anabel spat.

Then they all released one pokeball each.

"My friend, Metagross use Hyperbeam."

"Seviper! Burn with Flamethrower!"

"Show them your Mudshot Swampert!"

"Sandslash, bury them underneath your Sandtomb!"

"Medicham, call upon your Shadow ball."

"Venusaur! Use Razor leaf once again!"

Before the Rockets could blink their Pokemon were thrown back into their machine. Cassidy was shacking _'…How… how could.. they beat all of our pokemon with only one move fromthem… and with only half of their numbers?'_

Butch was able to react faster then his partner, getting out the remote for the mecha, in hope to push those pesky pokemon away. But nothing happened.

Butch kept pushing the button in anger. But he then felt Cassidy hand, gesturing him to look down.

There was a glaring hole in the power core; electricity was pouring out from it. Realizing what this meant all Butch could say was "Aaah…Sh—"But he never finished, thankfully, because the whole thing exploded sending them hurtling into the sky.

"We may not be Jessie and James, but it looks like we're blasting off again!" They cried.

Twinkle.

* * *

Ash coughed when the smoke filled the air. Worriedly he cried out, "Guys? Staraptor…Pikachu?"

He peered out in the gray to see the silhouette of the two come at him.

"Staarrrrr!"

"Pikapi!"

Before Staraptor even touched the ground, Pikachu jumped toward his trainer. "Pikapi! Pika pikachu!" In his arms Ash could here that he was deathly worried for him. Grabbing his shirt, Pikachu looked him; Ash saw his eyes just wanted to water with relief.

Ash hugged his friend. "It's alright Pikachu… I'm not going anywhere." Taking his eyes off Pikachu for a moment he saw his flying type with his head hung down.

"Starr…" Its voice filled with guilt. Guilt for not saving his beloved trainer; it felt terrible for not being their for its trainer like he has been there for them.

"Staraptor…" Ash muttered softly. The predator pokemon lowered its head even further.

"Hey it's okay Staraptor. You saved Pikachu and for that I'm grateful." Ash petted him on the head. Staraptor leaned his head to into his chest, and if he could… Staraptor would be sobbing.

End Of Chapter 4

* * *

**Huuuhhh? What do you think? May not be the greatest but its certainty the longest chapter yet (though that's not say much)  
If you looked closely you would see some EPIC FORESHADOWING! In several of the sentences. Next Chapter FEELINGS will not yet be revealed.. sorry AbilityShipping fans I am going to take this pairing slightly slow for now you will have to deal with Anabel's One-Sided feeling and Ash's Clueless-ness, BUT do not worry there will be abilityshipping on both sides when things start picking up a bit (more)**

**I bet your also wondering were are Jessie, James and Meowth? Well this is suppose to be a bit cannon to th actual series so From what I am guessing is that they did some training between the end of the Sinnoh league and the Unova series. So I put in the other two Nitwits.**

**Trivia time. Anabel's costume is actually an official manga outfit that she wore. Check It out in Bulbapedia **

**I may be taking even longer to get the chapters up-dated. ****Have a wonderful day and please review and tell your friends about me.  
Remember REVIEWS MOTIVATE ME!**


	5. Reunion

**Woooo! Chappie 5 done. Sorry for the long delay (for me anyway) but I have had NO life what so ever these weeks.(And I have been too busy playing Pokémon White) Hooray I got 33 reviews so far! And a fan base. I do really appreciate the reviews guys, they just tickle me pink.**

**Anyway someone posted a review that got me thinking about Ash and Pikachu being cannon in Black and White so that got me thinking about what it would be like if Pikachu was as powerful as he was by the end of the Sinnoh. (and why he shouldn't be)  
I hope the short stories are funny, please enjoy them.**

* * *

_Cannon story/ Iron Tail_

_Trip stood cockily in front of the boony from Kanto, Ash. Though his Pikachu was interesting, the trainer was not. Possibly Ash couldn't even bring out the full potential for the electric type and Trip was about to prove that._

"_Ready boony? Alright here we go. Snivy use—"_

"_Pikachu use Iron Tail!"_

"_KAAAAAA-PIKA!"_

_The Iron tail came spot on with the grass serpent, causing it to fly a hundred feet in the air, over the forest and into the trees._

"_And that's how we do it in Kanto." Ash said as he walked away._

_Trip was bamboozled. "… but … my .. snivy… how?"_

"_FINE! I'll look for your dang Snivy! Geez I just got here and I'm already finding some chump's Pokémon. I thought that would've ended with Dawn but nooooo.." Ash huffed walking in the direction the Pokémon flew to._

_Trip was forever scarred._

* * *

_Cannon Story/ Raining Pidove_

"_Wow look at all for them Pikachu. So these are Pidove; lets catch one!" Ash exclaimed as he viewed the field of flying types. He got an idea._

"_Pikachu use Thunder Bolt!"_

"_PIIIIKKKAAAAA!"_

_The whole field was engulfed in a bright yellow light..  
When it disappeared Pidove sprawled on the ground; some were even falling from the air, fainted from the sheer power of the attack. _

_Ash was horrified. "Dangit! I didn't expect this to happen."  
He looked around to see them all, looking across each individual._

"_All of them, fainted. I don't know what to do… Pikachu?" he called for his partner.  
"WHICH ONE DO I CHOOOOSE?"_

* * *

_Cannon Story/ Nuke-Attack!_

_Ash faced against the Striaton City Gym Leaders. Pansage, Pansear and Panpour were all on the battle field facing his one Pikachu. The gym leaders thought this would be an easy win, Iris was too, currently thinking that Ash was probably the dumbest trainer in the history of Pokémon battles. Obviously they never seen him on TV._

"_Pikachu Use Nuke-Attack!" Ash cried._

"_Nuke—" Cilan began._

"_Attack?" Iris finished._

_The field was covered completely by electrical pulses. Next thing everyone knew all three of the monkey Pokémon were fainted on top of each other._

_The gym was silent except for Ash who marched over to the three and took the badge from them.  
"Why do I have a feeling that this shouldn't happen? Ah well, I got my badge so see ya!"_

* * *

'From One Side to Another'

By True-InTha-Blue

Reunion

Chapter 5

"It's good to know that you are still treating your treating your Pokémon rightly." Ash heard a voice say after he recalled Staraptor; instantly recognizing it, Ash head turned around to see... "Anabel!" As he ran toward her, he saw that she was followed by the other Frontier Brains. Pretty soon he was bombarded by handshakes and friendly gestures.

"It's great to see you again Ash! I hope that Septile of yours is recovering well." Spencer said with a tape of his cane.

"Oish! You better be careful next time." Greta slugged his arm.

"I hope you're ready for the big time." Anabel teased.

Ash grinned at the faces around him "Thanks everyone! I really owe you guys."

"Ah don't worry about it kid." Noland patted him on the back. "Besides if there is anyone you should thank, thank Anabel."

"Anabel?" He said as he turned toward her.

"Kachu-Pika!" Pikachu jumped toward her arms.

"Hey, it's great to see you too!" She petted the electric-type before answering his trainer's question. "We all arrived at the same time, so we were heading to where Scott was to meet us but when I saw the giant… robot.. thing with the Team Rocket R on it, I sort of summed up two things. You and trouble.

Ash shook her hand in gratitude. "Well thanks for that. We never get a break from those guys."

The three of them laughed until Noland interrupted. "Hey to break up the love chat but we are going to be late." Quickly Anabel handed Ash Pikachu trying to hide the sudden blush on her face. Quickly she caught up with the group with out to much hassle.  
Ash being the clueless playboy he is, didn't noticed anything particular about the comment. (For now..) Catching up with the group, he now realized that someone was missing.

"Hey where's Brandon?" he asked.

"There." They all said monotonously.

Just then the signature flying pyramid flew over their heads.

"Oh.."  
"Pika…"

The group finally reached their destination: Silph Co. Headquarters. Ash smiled seeing the company hasn't changed since the last time he saw it, except for Brandon's pyramid sitting next to the giant building.

"Seriously how can that guy get away with parking that thing everywhere?" he whispered to Pikachu. The Pokémon just shrugged for an answer.

Upon entering the facility, they were greeted by a friendly face. "Great to see ya again Ash boy!" Scott greeted. "I hope you are ready to become a Frontier Brain."

Both of them pumped their fist "Heck yes we're ready! When do we begin? I'll take on any of these 'special things' you asked!"  
"Pika Pikachu!"

Everyone smiled at their eagerness. "All right Ash, we will get to there in a moment. Right now we need to get on with the initiation." Together they walked across the hallways; soon reaching the end and another figure. Ash saw it to be Brandon leaning against the doorway waiting for them.

Walking up to the Pyramid King, Ash greeted him "Hey Brandon! It's good to see to see you again. How is the reconstruction on Snow Point Temple?"

Brandon turned his attention on the young trainer "Hmmmm the construction is going well and with my legendary golems it will be better than ever. But are YOU doing well Ash?"

"huh?"

Brandon shook his head. "Never mind boy. Let's just get on with this." He pushed the doors open to a conference room reserved for them. Once they all got to their designated seats, Scott started to speak.

"Alright everyone, the initiation has now begun; let the current Frontier Brains please start roll call."

"Factory Head Noland!"

"Arena Tycoon Greta!"

"Dome Ace Tucker!"

"Pike Queen Lucy!"

"Palace Maven Spencer!"

Salon Maiden Anabel!"

"And Pyramid King Brandon!"

"Frontier Brains, today stands before us is Ash Ketchum." Scott declared, pointing to Ash. "A trainer who has shown us the potential to become something greater. Once again we shall call a vote. Those who support the decision for him to become a Frontier Brain, please show so."

Ash felt his heart swell with excitement as he saw all the Brain's hand shot up without hesitation. Nodding at the votes Scott continued. "Let the record show that all 7 out of 7 Frontier Brains voted for him. This tells us that from this day Ash is officially eligible to become a Frontier Brain." He paused "And now begins the complicated part… are you ready to know about it, Ash and Pikachu?"

Both of them nodded "Yeah! Common Scott, we've been waiting for this part the whole time. What do we need to do?"

"Okay then.." Scott took a deep breath. "In order to become a full Frontier Brain, you need to serve a full 3 to 4 mouths under their command."

…

"WHAAAAAHHHH?" His face showing such a comical disbelief that the others tried to refine themselves from laughing.  
Ash was not expecting this, a battle maybe or a test of skill but certainly not _This! _"You mean that… I have to be a.. a.. Servant?"

Scott sweat dropped a bit. '_Well that's one way of putting it.' _  
"Now, now Ash it's not that so much as being the servant.." he said even though he was contradicting what he just thought. "…More like an internship."

Ash gave him a look.  
"Look you need to learn what it is like to be on the other side of the battle field. Besides we need time to build your faculty." Scott explained.

Ash thought about it. '_That's right… there is the battle faculty and I guess this 'internship'_ _won't be that bad, could even be fun." _Ash spoke to again "So I am guessing I get to choose the location for it and which Frontier Brain I want to learn from?"

"That lad catches on fast." Commented Spencer.

Scott nodded "Bingo kid. I—"  
"Pallet town. I wish to have it built in Pallet town. It's a small town so there should be plenty of space for construction without disturbing the habitat around it." Ash said.

"Hmmm, good choice." Scott agreed "Now you have to choose which Frontier Brain you want to learn under. We'll give you a separate room and an hour to think about it; make it good choice Ash. This will most likely be one of the most important decisions you make on your journey as a trainer."

Grinning Ash agreed to the terms "Suppose that's alright. Thing is though I don't think an hour is enough to choose."

Everyone grinned at the compliment. "Don't worry about it Ash, the answers will come to you." Spencer said sagely.

* * *

Like Ash previously said, he was going to need more than an hour. It was difficult, each of the Frontier Brains were powerful in their own way. From their Pokémon to their battle strategies, they were unique, unlike most trainers he encountered.

Initially his first choice would've been Brandon; a very powerful trainer, constantly getting stronger and filling everyday with adventure with his side job as a ruins expert. He treated his Pokémon with respect and kindness yet his battles were harsh and brutally tough. But.. the reason why he himself needed become a Frontier Brain was to slow down and take a break from the constant traveling, to better himself and his skills. So he didn't think the Pyramid King would be willing to slow down for a .. 'foolish kid'.

There was Noland, awesome guy! Fun to hang around with and a great compassion for Pokémon to boot; the Factory Head seemed to know his way around the battle field. Noland would be a blast to train under with all his tricks up his sleeves. However, Noland was a bit of a technical person, .. his machines tried to kill him too.

Tucker!... NO!

Greta was a sure good sport. Ever going, ever training. She would be perfect for improving himself and his Pokémon. On the other hand the training was suppose to be more than just getting themselves stronger… there was also the fact that he didn't want to spend all three mouths in a full body cast… oish.. or ouch.

Lucy… No.. no. She's a great trainer and all that but he didn't like the fact that she didn't teach her Pokémon how to defend themselves. That's good for her style but not his. And there was also her women posse. He shuddered. No.

Then there's Spencer. Some one that old was bound to know lots about Pokémon, battling and a whole lot else. And truly he loved the way the old man battled, the feeling of the jungle air burning his lungs as both their Pokémon fought in their natural element. Then again he didn't know how long Spencer could keep doing that… and he rambled.. a lot.

Ash shook his head, conflicted at the choices. "Pikachu." He called for his friend from the other side of the table.

"Pi?" Pikachu hopped up from his seat. "Pi Pikapi?" Pikachu felt concern for Ash, their time was almost up. He could tell that his trainer had been thinking about this deeply.

Ash rubbed his finger against Pikachu's cheeks still deep in thought. "Pikachu.. this is really hard. I want to choose one of them… but I need to choose one that I can learn form, not .. just get stronger." Ash stood up from his chair to lean back to the wall. "So many of them are great, if only I knew which one was best for us." His brows furrowed "Still I haven't thought of all of them… there's still Anabel."

Pikachu's face lit up "Kachu-Pika!" he spoke her name in his language.

Ash smiled. "You like her don't ya?" Then again so did he. Despite that he knew her for only two days, they became friends fast. His aim was to defeat her, yet she still treated him with courtesy and even offered him to teach him and May her ability of understanding Pokémon.  
He saw her powers as a trainer, and she obviously had more skill then most of the Frontier Brains.

"Yeah, She could defiantly be a great teacher. She even the same age as I, which could help her relate with my. Whatcha think buddy?"

* * *

_Meanwhile at the conference room…_

The Frontier Brains were catching up with each other. Mostly they talked about what they were going to do when the Battle Frontier starts up in almost four months. Plus they described on what training methods if Ash ever picked one of them.

Scott was currently chewing out.. I mean talking with Noland about his little habit when he is suppose to be doing his paper work.  
When he left Noland a quivering wreck he spotted Anabel leaning with her back toward the wall. She was not really interacting with anyone instead fiddling with her hat; deep in thought. He walked up to her saying "Hey, excited for our new Brain?"

Anabel snapped out of her thoughts and grinned. "Yeah! This will be an interesting year. Can't wait to see what he's got for our challengers."

Scott quirked his eyebrow at her. "Oh? Focusing on what happens after the three months after, are we? I thought you would be ecstatic that the fact that there is a possibility that he might pick you. And maybe then… I don't know, confess a certain something to a certain someone?"

Anabel eyes widened at his statement but quickly covered it up. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said coolly; her voice not betraying her feelings.

"Sure you don't." Scott smiled. Anabel might be good at hiding her emotions from most people but not from him. He knew all her quirks.

"Everyone gather around. Our favorite trainer shall be making his arrival to us all." Tucker declared, pointing to the clock.

Not missing a beat Ash with Pikachu back on his shoulder, entered through the doors.  
"So Ash, have you made your choice?" Scott asked.

The two nodded "Yeah, it took a while but both of us finally decided." Ash took one last look at Pikachu.

"The Frontier Brain I choose is…

…

…

…

Anabel."

* * *

Tucker smiled knowingly.

Truly, although she didn't show it, Anabel was shocked. Considering how most things turn out in her life, she would never think he would pick her. Maybe someone more experienced, like Brandon or Greta, but defiantly her.

On the other hand, the Frontier Brains were greatly pleased on the choice. It would be good for her in both her life and in her ability as a Frontier Brain.

A wide grin appeared on Scott's face; this was going to be interesting. "Good choice Ash. Though Anabel has been a Frontier Brain for only 3 years, she has proved to be one of the strongest out of all of us and still has a lot of potential to be shown; you will help her as she will help you."

Now it was Ash's turn to be shocked. _'She's only been in the Battle Frontier for three years? That means she joined when she was just eleven. I knew she was tough but she could be out of my league."_

Anabel walked up to him, her extra scenes detecting Ash's emotions that he was feeling right now.

Excitement.

Joy.

Uncertainty.

And…. Something else…. Something negative… almost like fear.

She was so focused on the emotions that she almost missed Ash talking to her. "I'm really excited about this. It was a hard choice but Pikachu and I believe that that this will be great."  
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu agreed before jumping in her arms again.

Ash smiled "Pikachu is the one who really helped me pick you."

"He did, did he?" Anabel asked. She hugged the electric type closer, earning a squeal of delight from him. "Why thank you Pikachu. I'll be sure to help you to the best of my ability."  
"Pika-chu Pikapi Ka-Chu Pika!"  
"Really? Then I will keep that in mind. I'll be sure to help him get out of that slump."

Ash rose an eyebrow "Don't get in what?" he asked assuming they were talking about him.  
His assumption was proven right when the Salon Maiden said "Oh just something about a certain trainer being… more emotional than an angry Aggron."  
Ash glared at Pikachu "You know there's a reason why people aren't suppose to understand other trainer's Pokémon."

Scott came from behind them; slugging his arms around both Ash's and Anabel's shoulders. "This is it for both of you. Now, go out and show not only me but all of us that you can become a Frontier Brain."

End of Chapter 5

* * *

**Well I hoped ya liked it, and man, my writing and grammar is terrible. If anyone spots something that is wrong with the formatting please be specific. I will extremely appreciate it.  
I hope that the short stories were funny and that you liked the rest of the story. The rest of the Frontier Brains will be playinga bigger part of it if I haven't motioned it before. (I like them)  
Ash is still clueless about relationships but don't worry.  
More foreshadowing! Can you spot them?  
I have the whole plot thought out,(I've had this story in my noggin for a while) and I am also considering to make a second or third one. If I do, one of them will be in Unova but please let me know about whether or not you would like the third. Next Chapter is Ash's beginning of his 'internship' to Anabel. And we will get to see some of her Pokémon, some of them will be from the reviewers and some of them are my ideas.**

** I Do Love Pokemon Black and White. From the rescent episodes Its good to know that they haven't made Ash a total Idiot.  
If anyone has any questions about the story that confuses them please let me know. Depending in what it is I MAY answer them.;  
Thank you and please review.**


	6. Growth and filler

_Hey everyone True-InTha-Blue here. I just wanted to say, Pray for Japan people, or do what you can. I am, and I have been greatly affected by this whole disaster. And for anyone who has loved ones in Japan or lost them, I am here to say, I'm sorry. _

* * *

**There comes a time in a fanfiction author's life when they realize that there is no motivation left.  
**

**Luckily for me that time has not come. LOL!**

**But seriously I am ecstatic on all the reviews this fic has been getting, and it's my first story no less. But something concerns me, why am I getting so many Favorites on my Story when they don't review them? Ah well. Hope you enjoy this chapter, I hope that I can make them longer next time but who knows right?  
But don't expect anything too exciting on the next few chapters, its's filler. Yeah, I don't like either but all great stories need them, from Yu-Gi-Oh, Bleach, and especially Dragon Ball Z.  
So deal with it. **

**Oh and your Criticism is wonderful! People (especially you _Kronik-Kruton_) please if you notice something tell me. And _Tobi Katsura _your criticism is blunt as a bowling ball and as sharp as a cutlass, I love it. Your helping me out greatly. After this chapter I will try to fix the blunders I have made. **

**And Nightlover2 about your question: Of course Brock, Misty and everyone in the series will show up, wouldn't be a pokemon fanfic if I didn't.**

**********Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-Intha-Blue

Chapter 6

Growth and Filler (I hate filler)

_The next day…_

When Ash woke up he realized that he was not in his room. Panicking the trainer quickly got up; ignoring Pikachu yelling at him for disturbing his sleep. He quickly looked around his surroundings. Unlike the cramp, slanted, cluttered with knickknacks bearings of his room, this one was clean and posh, with a white smooth floor and a window that filled it with light.

"What? Huh? Where is my room… wait, yesterday… that's right… I'm in Anabel's house now."

* * *

_Flashback…_

"_Whatcha thinking about Ash?" Anabel asked when they left Silph. Co. It was only just midday when the meeting ended._

_Ash was currently looking down and Pikachu was in Anabel's arms. _"_Hmmmm. Nothing much, just what happened, it all went by a lot faster then I thought." He said looking up._

"_Oh that's normal; happened with me too." She started to pet Pikachu._

_Ash put an arm behind his head. "Yeah, I keep forgetting that you went through it as well. Man if I didn't know any better I would've thought you were always in the Battle Frontier by the way your so casual about things."_

_Pikachu spoke up to him. "Pi-Pikachu! Pika Pi Chu Kachu!"_

_Anabel smiled  
"What did he say?" Ash asked, wanting to hear his partner's speech._

_Anabel smiled. "Thanks Pikachu. He's saying that despite of that you two are going to have a blast with me"  
_

_Ash smiled. "Figured something like that, like I said, Pikachu one of the main reasons that I picked you."_

_She looked at Pikachu then back to him. "You've gotten better at understanding your Pokémon since the last time we met."_

_This caused the trainer to smile again . "Thanks, but its nothing compared to what you do. It's pretty awesome that you understand what Pokémon are saying."_

_Little did he realize that his compliment had an unknown effect because Anabel was currently struggling to keep down a blush rising to her cheeks. She turned away slightly to hide it. "Thank you Ash, but it's nothing more then an empathetic ability." She tried to keep her voice calm_

_He shook his head. "Then that's some ability."_

_Getting uncomfortable with the discussion, she changed the subject. "Is your flying-type alright now?"_

"_Staraptor? Yeah, that team Rocket fiasco shook him up a bit, but now he's in tip-top shape. Why do you ask?"_

_She took out one of her own poke balls from her belt. "Where flying of course, how do you think I got here so fast? Battle Frontier's are needed to get around quickly at any moment. It's standard procedure Ash"_

_Ash didn't answer when she threw it in the air._

"_Toooggaakiiis!" Her Pokémon cried when it formed from the light of the poke ball._

'Whoa that's some Togakiss_.' He thought it came down. Its down shined in the sunlight and the Pokémon itself was bigger and sleeker then Dawn's Togakiss. It had an air of grace when it landed on Anabel's out stretched arm; when it did, her arm didn't budge an inch._

"_Ash, staring is rude." Her voice broke through his thoughts._

"_Sorry." He said calling on Staraptor._

_Once Pikachu was firmly on Ash's shoulders they flew to their destination: Tohjo Falls. Or to be more specific, the area south of the Tohjo Falls; there is located the Battle Tower and the living courters of the Salon Maiden herself. From a bird's eye view you would see a small brown cottage with path ways criss-crossing into a thick forest; it contained several meadows scattered in it's depths.  
Ash peered over the scenery marveling at the sight. Its been a while since he was last here, nothing changed much though. The sun was setting amidst horizon against the lake cuing colors of vivid oranges and reds.  
_

_When the two landed Anabel spoke up to Ash. "Hey I need to check up on some of my Pokemon in the forest. Do you think you can settle in without me?"  
Ash nodded when they walked up to the door. "Great, your room is the second room to the right up stairs, dinner is in a box in the fridge, help yourself." With that Anabel separated their ways. Ash complied with her instructions, eating dinner and heading up to his room, night was setting causing his body to tire. He tried to stay up for a bit waiting for Anabel; by the time he did go to bed she was still missing._

* * *

_End flashback_

Ash snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Pikachu calling his attention. He thought that his electric-type wanted an apology for disrupting his sleep but saw a note in his paw instead of an angry face. The note he saw was handwritten with a fancy type of penmanship.

It said:

_Dear Ash,_  
_I apologize for coming so late last night; somethings came up but there is no need to worry though, every thing is fine. Please get ready and head down stairs at 7 o'clock. It's a bright and early start today!  
__Sincerely  
_Anabel.

"OH CRAP! I'M GOING TO BE LATE!" Ash yelled when he realized what time it was. Quickly he got dressed and grabbed the sleepy Pikachu. When he bounded down the steps he came to an abrupt halt to see an absol casually walking down the hallway.

"An… absol?" What would an absol be doing here of all places? However Ash and Pikachu noticed that this disaster Pokémon was different from the ones in the wild. Its coat was the purest white, like it was just brushed, unlike the ragged fur of those that lived in the mountains. The absol then sensed them. Instantly it turned around and took an offensive stance. "Absol sol!" It snarled.

Ash retaliated with a defensive position while Pikachu arched his back and had electricity dripping from his cheeks.

"Absol what are you growling at… Oh Ash!" Anabel walked in. "It's okay Absol their friends." Obediently, the absol backed down. Still Ash glanced wearily at it until it relaxed in her hands.

"Alright… Nice absol you got their, never thought you would have a dark-type though."

Anabel leaned against the wall taking off her hat. "Look just because I had the Pokémon that I fought you with were psychic-type doesn't mean I don't branch out Ashy-boy. Basic rules for a good trainer." She said causing Ash to unconsciously flinch at his nickname. He followed her to the kitchen were he was greeted by the rest of her team.

All sorts of Pokémon were eating their meal casually with each other; there were several Pokémon that the two never encountered with Anabel. There was a cherim, a beautifly, drifloon, dratini, and two kirlia. One of the kirlia was blue were it was suppose to be green thus having Ash see it was a shiny. There, next to her side, was Anabel's signature Pokémon Espeon.

"Whoa! Look at them all." Ash exclaimed walking up to the table in the middle of the kitchen.

"Yeah this is my team." Anabel walked up to him Espeon trailing behind. "All of them been with me for quite awhile now, except the kirlia, I just got them recently."

Ash looked at them. "Why both?" He watched her put her hand on them.  
"Because… I just couldn't bear to separate them." She smiled. "I have others outside. And speaking of outside, if you brought your Sinnoh team with you then I believe it is appropriate to feed them there as well.

Ash smiled, agreeing to her.

* * *

_Outside…_

His Pokémon were eating heartily when Anabel told him to head to the Battle Tower  
"After you eat breakfast of course."

"But it was so early. " Already? So I guess that we're going to train there I suppose?"

Anabel shook her head. "Nope. I have a bit too much work to do today. Not until after tomorrow can we start training but guess I can check out your Pokémon right now." She turned to them. "Can you all line up please?" she asked politely.

The Sinnoh team looked at each other unsure but complied when Anabel had Ash line up with them as well. She didn't do much though, just walked around them mostly. Though sometimes she asked them to lift an appendage, but what she always did was put a hand on their heads.  
"What's that for?" He asked when she finished with Pikachu.  
She smiled at him "It tells me how they feel about you and also what their potential is."

"Really? How are they doing?"

Her smiled faded, looking away like she didn't want to talk about it. "Well… despite of only being with you for a year, these are pretty strong Pokémon. But…"

"But?"

"They haven't been able to grow really. They are not using their full potential. Pikachu hasn't been either not since the time I met him. "

Ash eyes widen. What did she mean by that? He been training them to the best of his ability, he's defeated Conway and Paul with the help of his Pokémon.

"Huh?" Was all he asked.

"I'll tell you about it later. Don't worry about it for now." She said with a wave of her hand. "Common we need... Well, I need to head to the Battle Tower. Eat some breakfast and head out before 10. Make sure to bring Staraptor with you." With that she left.

* * *

Ash awed at the Battle Tower's massive structure, been awhile since he's last seen it. Entering the building he saw Maron, Anabel's referee sitting behind the desk.  
"Anabel's on the very top floor, she's expecting you." Maron said when Ash opened his mouth. "Also don't worry about the trainers you'll meet on the elevator; their just common participants." He said, answering another one of his questions.

Our hero looked at him for moment. '_Hmmm. I wonder if Maron is a psychic._'

"No I'm not. Oh by the way, Sabrina says hi." Hearing no reply Maron looked up to see our trainer not there.

"I thought I've seen him from somewhere." Ash said to Pikachu from inside the elevator that they scrambled to. Pikachu gave no answer, just shuddered remembering their past experience with the crazy gym leader.

The ride was long. Ash sworn he been in the elevator for 10 minutes. '_Why_ _does this place have a hundred floors?_' he mentally screamed. He was not intentionally a patient person. Brock was but not him. The main reason why he was so edgy though was because he worked himself in to a hype to complete Anabel's first task. He didn't know why, he just wanted to show that he could be a good at this 'internship'.  
'_That still doesn't sound right_.'

The elevator 'dinged' signaling their destination. The doors opened revealing a wide room with tile floors, light green carpets, and wood furnishing in fact the only thing that was lavender was a couch nestled to the side with Espeon laying on it. In the back was a wide window that filled it with natural light, in front of it was a large wooden desk and a chair containing the Salon Maiden herself.

Ash set Pikachu down as he walked over to her. "Nice office." Was all he said.

Anabel looked up. She was a bit worried that he was upset about what she said this morning. Being mean was the furthest thing from her mind when she said her opinion.

"So what do you need me to do?" he asked showing her that he wasn't thinking about their discussion. He watched her point to a small parcel on the edge of the desk.

"That package needs to be delivered to a company near by the harbor in Vermillion City. Do you think that Staraptor can fly there and back? You should get back here by noon."

She paused seeing Ash pick it up. "That package is very valuable, so please keep safe."

Ash nodded and took care to put it in his backpack. "Of course. I'll be back before you know it! Pikachu Come… on…" Faltered seeing Pikachu fast asleep on the lavender couch; the trainer raised an eyebrow.  
"You know what? I'll just take Buizel."

* * *

_Inside a secret base..._

"YOU IDIOTS!" A voice echoed in the hallways of a unknown location. The voice was harsh and raspy, enough to make any man cower, which is enough to cause us to pity it's two fortunate victims: Butch and Cassidy.

"But... but sir-" Butch tried to explain the overpowering voice.  
"SILENCE!" It demanded causing the duo to cringe. The voice originated from a man who was physically alike to his voice. From his harsh and bitter face, to his overpowering stance. This was a Team Rocket commander, as can be seen from his oriented silver shoulder pads on his Team Rocket uniform. His was not a pleasant man at all; wrinkles ridged his face, his eyes were beady little things and his structure was that of a veteran body builder. His personality... well I let you figure that out.

"One Trainer! ONE! That's all he was, and against two, Yes TWO, elite Rocket soldiers! That's right, do the math, see the problem? ITS YOU!" the commander pointed at them. "Your incompetence caused us a chance to gain strong Pokemon for our mission! You starting to act like grunts with your performance these days!."

"But sir if you listen..."

"NO! I will not listen, because if I did, I might end up like you!" the commander yelled again; he seemed to like yelling, this man, he was familiar with yelling more then he was with people.

"WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST LISTEN TO US?" The two yelled back at the commander.  
"It wasn't just one trainer, the were six more!" Butch yelled before their tormentor could intervene.

"Yeah, we had the trainer but these six other came in a KOed all of our Pokemon with one one of their each." Cassidy explained before she realized what she just said; when she did she covered her mouth as Butch face palmed himself.  
_'Well there goes our hopes for ever getting a promotion this year.' _

"What a second, these six trainer took out all twelve of yours? How many moves did they use?" The commander asked with his voice eerie quiet, greatly contrasting to the earlier argument.

Both gulped "They... each used one move sir, each. One hit took out two of our Pokemon. Sir."

They braced them selves from the onslaught on insults that were sure to come, but to their surprise there was nothing but silence. They looked up to see that their commander, a man who was fearless and overbearing, looked worried. This in turned worried them ever more greatly then any insult.

_'No, it can't be! The Elite Four and their group were suppose to be out of the region this month. If they, if they suspect our plans.. then the're ruined!' _the commander thought. "Were they part of the Elite Four?" He asked the soldiers fearing for the worst.

But to his surprise, and great relief, the two denied this. "Actually they called them selves... battle brains or Frontier something. " Butch said. "I really don't remember, I was kinda mad at the time."

But the commander paid no heed to the last part. _'Is this a new group, and if so, what could this do for our plans? I will have to tell Giovanni about this.' _The man turned to the dou. "Well this is an unexpected out come. You two I have a new mission for you." Butch and Cassidy snapped to attention. "Find all the information you can about this new group, all of it and don't leave a detail out and maybe I won't tell the higher ups about your faliure."

"Yes sir." They replied eagerly knowing perfecting well what would happen from the threat

End of Chapter 6

* * *

**Still need to make these chapters longer. Hope you enjoyed it.  
NEXT TIME!: POKE'ADEVNTURES! and Anabel's feelings. Hooray! What is Team Rocket planning? Will It affect the Frontier Brains? Does this Fanfiction actually have a plot, that it's not just about two anime characters feelings that will possibly not ever happen?  
Hopefully.  
**


	7. Poke' Adventures I

**Hello everybody! Hope everyone will be enjoying your summer soon! Before I begin I wish to point things out on my story that people have been questioning and also that have caught my attention. They will be posted on my author's home page. **

**Also I am sorry for the slight delay that happened this month, finals and all that jazz. Further warning, I will actually be heading off the Disney world this week, this is my first time ever going so I shall enjoy it immensely, and that means that I will not be working on the story for at least a week. I apologize.  
**

**On another topic I bet you wondering what is Poke' Adventures. Well it is a side-plot to the story that concerns Ash and Anabel's (and possibly some others) Pokémon, going off and have some fun and do other odd-ends without their human trainers. Yes the Pokémon will be able to talk, (though humans except Anabel still can't understand them). This little side-plot will give my story a more balanced feel while making longer. It gives me good experience in concerning deciphering character's attitudes and personalities, plus giving the story another relationship to work on. I won't tell you who though, just that it can work. I hope you enjoy them.  
**

**We're still in a filler section the story and possibly next chapter will be filler as well, hopefully this chapter will be more enjoyable and longer than the previous. Please bear with me. **

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 7

Poke' Adventures

(Day 1 of the Initiation part I)

_With Ash in the air…_

True his word, Ash took Staraptor to Vermillion city with Infernape to accompany him (Buizel wasn't in the mood to travel with Ash) in case Team Rocket decided to show up again. He wondered what they were they up to anyway. '_Normally they just steal from anyone who happens to be unfortunate enough to cross them. No, this time they signaled me out personally but why?' _He thought. It made him worry a bit for some strange reason; Ash Ketchum doesn't worry… but then again, Ash Ketchum use to only think about battling and friendship and not other concepts that could affect his life.  
So he decided to focus on the task at hand. Dropping off the package at Vermillion City didn't seem too difficult, however he knew that if he didn't do a good job at this then it could seriously dampen Ana—The Frontier Brain's opinion of him. If he was going to become the best Pokémon Master, then he needed to become the best Frontier Brain, and in order to do that, he needed to be the best servant!... wait.  
Never mind, the thing is that Ash was going to do his best in order to carry out Anabel's task for him to do. '_Even if it does involve chores.'_ Ash repressed a scowl at the thought.

Ash scanned the horizon for his destination, the trip shouldn't take too long; Anabel said this was due to the fact Ash was leaving earlier then he did when he left to meet them at Saffron City.  
Seeing no city in sight, Ash went back to his musings concerning a certain purple haired trainer who was almost the complete opposite of another purple haired trainer he met in Sinnoh.

It was about what the Salon Maiden said earlier. His Pokémon weren't weak; they're just not using their full potential. _'What did she mean by that' _he couldn't help but think. Ash couldn't help but frown; wasn't he doing his best? '_She'd seen me battle before. I was strong.'_ Ash defended himself in his mind. But pretty soon another voice had its own opinions. _**'…Only by a fluke in lighting were you able to win.' **_He was able to beat the in the regions Gym leaders, _**'…then again so can anyone else.' **_the malicious voice said in his mind.  
But he defeated Paul, Ash countered back. But the voice was ready for that _'__**yeeesssss, after he defeated you every time previously.'**_

"Staarr starrr?" The predator Pokémon called to his trainer, for Ash was being unnaturally still. Luckily this snapped Ash out of his 'conversation' with himself.

"I'm fine Staraptor." He responded before he went back to his thoughts; the odd voice seemingly retreated to the back of his head.  
_'Anabel wasn't being mean, just trying to help.'_ he finalized. Obviously she would think in a different way in terms of growth because she never had a journey.  
Besides soon enough he'll show her the bond he has with his Pokémon. Their battle shall be memorial like the one before; he was half tempted to ask for Corphish and Tarous to battle but he wanted to give his Sinnoh team a good chance to taste victory against a Frontier Brain.  
He had to smile recalling the first time they battled. He was a bit over confident back then, but hey, he defeated 5 of the Frontier Brain straight in a row. Once again, victory shall be his.

* * *

_A Poke' Adventure in the Battle tower…_

It was midday when Pikachu woke up from his slumber. The electric type didn't mean to sleep on his trainer but the couch was so comfy, it would have been a crime to deny him of this pleasure.  
"Bought time you woke up." A snarky womanish voice broke through his daze. "You should have seen your trainers face when he saw you sleeping. Quiet humorous." Pikachu shifted his eyes toward Espeon who sat near the end of the couch.

"Not my fault that the chair is so plushy." His boyish voice retaliated. She rolled her eyes.

"Hhhp. Well now that you're awake, how about you and I explore the Battle tower?" She asked him hoping off the couch.  
"Uuuh, why?" Pikachu asked not wishing to get off the couch.  
Espeon gave him a look. "Because we nothing else to do; your trainer won't be back; my trainer is currently working and shouldn't be disturbed by yammering Pokémon?"

"I would appreciate that." Said trainer stated not looking up from her work.

"All right, fine." Pikachu hoped on the floor. "But before we go explore the Battle Tower I would like it if we would check up on my partners."  
Espeon nodded before they descended into the elevator.

"Is there any other way to get around faster? It took about 7 minutes for Ash and I to get up here. "Pikachu complained.

"Nope, one speed only." Espeon said before she used her Psychic to push the first floor button.  
As they began their ride down, Pikachu decided to strike up a conversation to prevent awkwardness from rising.  
"Soooo, what have you and Anabel done this past year?" He asked shifting from one foot to another.  
Espeon just shrugged her little shoulders. "Nothing as exciting as you and your trainer done; we just did our normal routine, train for the upcoming year, help the other Frontier Brains out, manage our faculty, help wild Pokémon out, get some new Pokémon—"

"Wait, you and Anabel don't travel much right?" Pikachu asked noticing something. "Yes."  
"Then how come you guys got Pokémon from other regions?"  
Espeon explained how Scott, or as some of the Pokémon call him, Thee Chubby Boss, goes around to other regions on his time off and collect Pokémon with potential for the Battle Frontier every year. How he does it, she explained, is a mystery, not even Anabel knows. Sometimes he brings one or more, then, when he reaches a Frontier, he doesn't just give them their Pokémon, the Brains has to battle for them first.  
Gaining the Pokémon is their victory in the end.

"Of course, that doesn't mean we don't travel to look for a new partner once in a while. We even traveled the Kanto League once; we just don't take a year to get around a region like some people who don't know how to settle down." Pikachu quirked his ears at the jab.  
"What's that suppose to mean?" He asked, his eyes narrowing as Espeon feigned innocence. "Wait, you guys traveled the Kanto League? When?"

"About 4 years ago." She replied.  
Pikachu rubbed his chin thinking. "Then how come Ash didn't see you at the Indigo League?"

"We were recruited to the Frontier Brains, before it started, but that's a story only my trainer should tell."  
The elevator dinged giving way to the first floor. Out stepped the two, passing a sleeping John. Pikachu couldn't help but stare at the Battle Tower referee; he felt another repressed shudder.  
"What's wrong?" the sun Pokémon asked.  
"Oh… we just found out that Maron came from Sabrina's gym… Ehh."  
Espeon raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with that? The people in Sabrina's gym were nice when we visited. "

"Wait, did Sabrina battle you with a Haunter?"  
"Yeah, why?"  
"You live a blessed life."  
"Okay… "She said when they headed out. _'This Pikachu is one strange Pokémon.'_ She thought to herself. _'I wonder what he has to offer to the Battle Frontier when this is all over.'_

Espeon looked over to the electric seeing that he was deep in thought, as though trying to judge something. _'Strange indeed.'_

"Hey Espeon, you're a psychic type right?" Pikachu spoke up when they descended on the dirt road form the building.  
"Obviously." Came her smarmy reply.  
Pikachu looked around quickly almost like he was afraid of being heard; his arms shifted behind him. "Then you can sense the mind and all that jazz?"  
Espeon quirked her head. "Yes… where is this going?"

"Well… have you noticed anything… odd about my trainer? Does he seem different then the last time we were here?" he asked looking a tad nervous as they continued walking.  
Espeon eyes narrowed as she recalled when he was around; of course this was hard seeing as she never personally met him. "Now that you mention it, there does seem to be a lack of something in him. Why, what's got you bothered?"

The Electric Mouse sighed "Nothing, let's just find my part…ners?" Espeon wondered why Pikachu faltered until she saw a dirt cloud on the road traveling at high speeds, right towards them. Both of the Pokémon yelped as they dodged it as the cloud passed by. Inside of it was a familiar shape.  
"WHY DON"T YOU COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A REAL POKEMON, YOU ORAN-BERRY STEALING DRAGON!" a rough voice shouted from behind

"Buizel? What's going on?" Pikachu asked the seething water type when he caught up to them. Buizel ignored him, instead focusing on the dust cloud ahead of them. With a shout of "Water pulse!" the sea weasel Pokémon released a swirling mass of water energy towards it. The dust cloud stopped revealing through the dirt to be Gible. The dragon Pokémon said nothing as it used Dig to escape the oncoming attack.

"Tch, idiot managed to do something smart." Buizel spat seeing his attack miss.  
"Excuse me Buizel but what's going on?" Pikachu called form behind him.

The water type jumped up a bit now noticing the two there. "Oh umm… Pikachu! Ehm… It's nothing." He said quickly scratching the back of his head. The electric type was unconvinced, he knew Buizel enough that, whenever he decided to attack someone it was never for nothing. "Then why are you attacking Gible?" At the mention of the Pokémon's name, Buizel's body went ridged as though he was containing pent up fury.

"Because That Blasted POKEMON! Took my ORAN BERRY!" He went into a full blown rant causing Espeon and Pikachu to back up from his fury. "There I was minding my own business, about to have a delicious snack… WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN HE TOOK IT! That Dim-witted Gible managed to catch me off guard with a Dig and then _plucked_ by berry like it was still on the branch!" He panted heavily when he finished, receiving odd looks from the two. "WHAT?" he barked.

"Have you ever considered just getting another one?" Espeon asked.

A vein appeared on Buizel's forehead with his eye twitching; No he had never thought of that, and he was angry that he didn't. "Curse. You. And. Your. Logic." Buizel clenched his paws before saying "I can do that. But! I still want him to apologize."

Pikachu and Espeon both sighed at Buizel's stubbornness, this day just kept getting longer and longer. "Alright how do you suggest we find him?" Pikachu asked. The water type looked sheepish, he hadn't thought of that at all.

"Well what is he interested in? Maybe we can lure him in with whatever he likes?" Espeon asked.

Pikachu eyes brightened "Good idea Espeon, especially if we use food to trap him. Buizel, gather some random food items like bread and berries. Espeon, do you have any extra poke' food that we can use?"

"Sure, there some at Anabel's house that we can use." She said. _'This could be fun.'_

* * *

After a little bit of time spent gathering the random food pieces or bait as one might call it and the equipment for the snare, the trap was set for Gible. Under human circumstances the trap was simple, a small rope tied to a stick hoisting a box.

"Are you sure it will work?" Buizel asked eyeing the snare. It seemed so weird to do this, normally this was the type thing a trainer does, not a Pokémon. What if it doesn't work? He couldn't stand to think that he had to wait another hour for that stupid dragon to apologize to him. The more Buizel thought about it the more it ticked him off. _'Stupid Gible and his stupid Oran-berry stealing claws and stupid fin..'_

Pikachu noticed a glazed look taking over Buizel's eyes. _'Oh no, not again' _He thought,deadpanning. "Well, Buizel's out of the game." He told Espeon. The psychic type looked over to the Sea weasel's face.  
"Wow, he certainly gets mad over these things." She commented.

They waited for the Land Shark Pokémon to appear with anticipation. And waited. And waited. It wasn't until their own stomachs started to growl with hunger that they decided that Gible wasn't going to come. "Gosh… this was kinda a waste of time wasn't it?" Pikachu asked Espeon was they sat bored on a rock.

The Psychic type shrugged. "Not really, it was fun putting the trap together. You learned this from Ash didn't you?" Pikachu nodded.

"Yeah, kinda. Hey I'm going to grab something to eat from the trap. You want anything?" he asked her.

"Sure why not."

"Hey Buizel, do you… want…" Pikachu sighed seeing the water type still trapped in his own mind of fury, thinking who knows what. "Never mind."

The electric mouse Pokémon set the trap string in Buizel's hand, believing nothing will happen with the trigger in care of the enraged Pokémon's hand. He hopped off the rock, shacking himself a little to get his muscles going. He was about to get a few berries from the trap when that's when everything went wrong.

A mound of dirt suddenly erupted underneath Pikachu. "Hiya!" said a childish voice; Gible popped out sending him toward the trap. At the same time Buizel hearing Gible's voice, immediately snapped out of his trance and yanked the yarn.

"Gotcha!" He yelled with vigor but he trapped Pikachu who was flung into it earlier. It happed so fast that both Espeon and Gible blinked. A yell tore through the air; through sheer force of will Buizel shattered the rock with his paw and began charging toward the dragon type. "THERE YOU ARE!" he yelled at him.

Gible froze in fear on how closer and closer Buizel was getting to him so much that, he didn't notice the box, which currently held a Pikachu, next to him rattled. Buizel leaped with his arms readying an attack towards him "I got you now!" he cried with a savage smirk plastered across his face.

If you blinked however, you would've missed it. When Buizel was almost on him, a tail gleaming in a metallic sheen ripped apart in the box and yet also collided with Buizel's head. A loud _'clang'_ surrounded the area; Buizel dropped immediately like a stone. Gible stared in shock at the anticlimactic moment; nothing could be said at the moment.

* * *

Espeon took control of the situation when it descended into chaos. Buizel quickly regained consciousness and immediately attacked both Gible and Pikachu. Pikachu fought back with vigor, a little ticked off for being trapped in the box. Somehow Gible managed to avoid the fight without them noticing and began to munch on the bait that was left for him.

In spite of this, Espeon managed to keep herself from laughing out loud. Deciding to do something before it got even worse. she did the only smart thing at this situation by casting a Psychic on them. Pikachu and Buizel were separated from each other with surprised expressions. Gible too was lifted from his meal, even though he kept rising Gible tried to reach for the food. She set them in a row yet still held her psychic to keep them from moving.

"Hey what's the big deal?" Buizel barked not realizing what position he's in. Suddenly he was turned upside down. "What's going on?"

"Not that I don't love a good fight, but we need to calm down now, I would hate it if I had to hurl you over the Trojo falls." The three Pokémon boys gulped loudly, though it was harder for Buizel considering the fact that he was upside down. She dispersed her power, and Pikachu and Gible gently on their feet. The water type landed on his head with an "OW! You crazy—"

"What's going on?" Gible interrupted with his claw up. Buizel jumped to his feet in anger. "Whadya mean, what's going on? You're the one who started it all!"

Gible blinked "Oh you mean when I took your Oran-berry?" He asked innocently.

Buizel loomed over him threatening to strangle his neck with his arms. "Yes the Oran-Berry! My Berry! The one you stole!"

Pikachu stepped in between them before a fight could escalate. "Calm down Buizel. By the way, why did you steal it in the first place Gible?"

Gible's eyes closed in a U shaped formation. "That's because I wanted to battle Buizel silly!"

Buizel could feel his eyes twitching and veins throbbing as he tried to comprehend the dragon's logic. "What?"

"Well, I asked earlier this day but you kept ignoring me. So I took your berry hoping you would follow me to where Alpha Dragon would be, lucky for me you did until Pikachu and… who are you again?" Gible asked the psychic type.

"Espeon."

"Right, Espeon! Until you ran into them." He gave the berry to Buizel before asking "So can I please battle you, I'm sorry for taking your berry. We can go find Alpha Dragon so he could help us!"

Pikachu spoke up. "Gible, I hate to say this but Ash will be away for a while."

"Gone? But why?" He asked, not understanding why their caretaker would just leave.

Pikachu looked to Espeon then back to him. "Well you know the… um… Purple… Dragon lady we saw earlier?" Gible nodded. "Well, she had something to do for him. He'll be back but not till the end of the day. You understand?"

Gible blinked trying to digest what he just heard. "Oh now I get it." He started. "The Purple Dragon gave him orders because she's his mate."

…

Red blush rose over Pikachu's face (and to a lesser degree Espeon's) as he desperately struggled not to burst out laughing at the statement. He covered his mouth to prevent the string of snickers coming out of it. Buizel looked at the Land Shark Pokémon like he was crazy, and Espeon couldn't help but shake her head at the notion.

"..Snrk… No Gible… keyh… No it's something… oh gosh… something else entirely." Pikachu said between giggles. _'Wow! This just made my day entirely. Ash having a girlfriend! Yeah, Anabel and Ash… wow! That's just crazy.'_

Meanwhile Espeon had thoughts of her own. _'If only that was true, that Gible doesn't know how much my trainer wants that.' _She looked at Pikachu's reaction. _'Looks Like Anabel is going to try a lot harder than we originally planned to get that dense trainer to notice her feelings.'_

* * *

_Near the evening…_

Anabel leaned back in her chair with a heavy sigh. She just finally finished her paper work; an extra stack was added because of Ash's forms to become a Frontier Brain. She would've finished earlier too if her hand hadn't been shacking at the thought of …him.  
Honestly she couldn't stand it; it made her feel weak and vulnerable. This included the fact that it was hard to think straight when she was around him. Don't get her wrong though, Anabel wasn't like other girls who only thought of kissing the object of their affection. No, what really went through her mind when he was around was admiration. She adored his love for Pokémon and life, his simplistic views on things, his passion to prove his worth._  
_Those were essentials that she never had for most of her life. Ash made her feel like an average human, not an above-average trainer with special powers.

Anabel smiled at the memory when she first met him. Even when she told him of her ability, he still treated her like she was just a strong trainer. He didn't despair when she held the advantage in battle; he never questioned her mentality when they hanged around each other as well. How wonderful it be around someone like him _'Even if is quiet a silly boy.' _

However despite of all the good qualities Anabel held him too, she was not blind when it came to the less desirable ones Ash possessed. _'Such as the incredible denseness of his.'_ She thought. The Salon Maiden knew Ash was not the sharpest tool it the shed, though she didn't mind, it was just the case of using suability of not being a good tactic when making Ash notice something. She discussed it with Espeon late last night on how to explain her feelings. She couldn't be discrete about it like last time. She read his emotions to the best of her ability and there wasn't much there, except for friendship and maybe something else, but it was buried deep, deep down in his mind.

Anabel could be blunt. _'That is if I wanted to embarrass myself; you're way to shy for something like that Anabel.' _She thought with a small frown.

Espeon told her to wait it all out, but Anabel couldn't help but be afraid that it will be too late.  
She let out another sigh, tired that her thoughts keep going around in circles. "For what's it worth, one day I will be able to tell him what I really feel. But for now Anabel, relax, take it easy, and be the best friend you can be for him, you still have three months." She said out loud.

She got up from her chair as her thoughts switched to another subject that had her worried. "And I'll start being the best friend for you by figuring out what happen to all that potential that you once had. If Brandon and I are correct, then this month will be painful for both you and I, Ash."

End of Chapter 7

**Please read author's note below!**

* * *

**Now what's wrong with Ash? Is it that voice? Will Anabel ever be able to summon up the courage to tell her feeling? Why is Ash suddenly able to think of other concepts of life?**

**Now you're probably wondering a few things. I shall answer these questions in order: Many things. Possibly. Maybe. Puberty.  
Remember folks this story not only concerns Abilityshipping but also Ash growing up a bit. That, and the comeback of a lot of decent yet unappreciated side characters. I am trying to developing Anabel's character as well to a degree.  
Also Gible calls humans Dragons because I feel that Gible just doesn't know any better. He is a young Pokémon in my opinion.  
Remember if you have any questions or if I am doing anything that does not tie in to the actual cannon please let me know. I am sorry about any mistakes, grammar errors or wrong story formatting that my come as well as OOC Characters and if I'm straying off too much. Please review.**

**Another note. I wish to make another story coming up; however this will take time away from 'From One Side to Another'. So I want you, the readers to pick which one you want me to do.**

**First off we have:**

Ed X, a Get Ed Fanfiction. _Summary: A new courier has shown up the Dojo courier crew in Progress City. But he's weird, strange, and why does Bedlam have an interest in him?_

**Basically a remake of the old show. More character development, interaction and a consistent plot. Plus a little darker theme to it all.  
This story would be slow do to the fact that the episodes are neigh impossible to come by. But I truly love Get Ed and I wish to pay its respects.**

White with Black, a Megaman (specifically EXE) Fanfiction. _Summary: When Maylu and Roll travel to the N1 Grand-Pre to stop WWW they meet a strange dark Navi with his Netop. What do these two want with them and their friends?  
_**Roll and Maylu are the heroins of our story, they just as strong as Megaman in the beginning. But they don't know Megaman or Lan Hikari, in fact they don't exist. But they do meet Megaman the Dark Navi and Lan Light.  
Beware Megaman and Lan are evil, Chaud is Maylu's friend instead. But it will be Mainly MegamanXRoll and also (on a side note) LanXMaylu. I just love writing about an Evil Megaman. Difficulties I will encounter would be episodes. So it will differ a bit from both the show and game but also being a combination of both.  
**

The Phantom, a Danny Phantom Fanfiction. _Summary: When Sam and Tucker activate the Fenton's Ghost portal, they accidently release an ancient ghost only known as Phantom from his slumber. Can the kids and the town survive when he is unleashed?  
_**Danny Fenton doesn't exist, there is no such thing as a full Half Ghost and Full Human. There can be Humans with ghost-like powers and Ghost that can become human-like. Danny will be a bit different considering he's a really ancient ghost who doesn't know about the modern world. He doesn't have many human tendencies. In main focus is on how Sam and Tucker teaching him how to be a hero and how to be human. But it will be challenging for me to write about a different Phantom. DxS  
**

A Hollow in a Shihakusho, A Bleach Fanfiction. _Summary: What if Ichigo took one second more in the Shattered Shaft? How much could one second more change?  
_**So basically Ichigo loses his human form, gains a hollow form yet still has his shinigami powers and his heart.****This story will have the conflict of Ichigo dealing with this; it will change on how some characters will react to him and the overall plot.  
This story will be difficult to write, mostly due to the fact that I have to watch all the bleach episodes. But more or less I would find it a good challenge. Oh and there will be IchiXRuki (I love this pairing it's so funny and deep.)  
**

A Different Cost, A Bleach Fanfiction. _Summary: Why couldn't he remember anything in this Rukongai? Why are there these people in black robes? And why in the hell is this midget yelling at him?  
_**Instead of losing his powers as the cost of the Final Gestsuga, he loses his memories instead and ends up in the spirit world. Now he has to pass the Shinigami Academy, keep his powers low, regain his memory all while trying to defeat a plot from usurping the very structure of the spirit world itself. Just a normal day for him.  
Once again this will be hard to write but easier than 'A Hollow in a Shihakusho'. There will also be IchiXRuki in this as well.  
**

Renegade of Keyblades, a Kingdom Hearts Fanfiction. _Summary: It's been two years since the Wielders heard anything from the king. But then Sora over-hears the true plot; now he's on the run from everybody he loves while Xehanort gathers his power to return.  
_**Sora does not turn evil, this story is about how not everything is clean and cut while only being Black and White. Honestly this is my interpretation for Kingdom Hearts III, to a point that is. ****This story would be a little darker with not only for Sora aghast but for the other characters sorrow as well.  
I really want to do this one because we need a decent Kingdom Hearts Fanfiction. I'm tired of all the Fanfiction in the archive never focusing on the plot. Plus it will have much SoraXKairi! We need it!**

**So you the readers pick which one you want. If you want all of them then list them in order to which you like most on your reviews; I will try to have a poll on my author's page. Keyword: Try. Have a great summer everyone! **


	8. A Battle before Battles

**Hi every one! Blue here!**

**I LOVE DISNEY WORLD! IT IS FREAKING AWESOME! IF YOU NEVER GONE THERE DO WHAT EVER YOU CAN TO GO THERE! YOU WILL NEVER REGRET IT!  
(Unless you do something unmoral, if so, then Walt Disney will send you to hell.)**

**But enough about me, you came here to read about Pokemon! **

**So I lied about this chapter being more filler… yeah. Let's face it; I'm just as anxious as you are about the battle/plot. Now the real story will begin! Can I get a montage? No? Well that's fine.**

**Now to get on to some other subjects.**

**WWII Historian:**** Your review was great. It really encouraged me to make this battle and chapter in general to be one of the best I could make it. You are a good person, but please, no offence, (though I understand your intent) but please do not swear **_**indirectly**__** or **__**directly**_**at anyone on the reviews.  
THIS GOES FOR EVERYONE ELSE TOO.  
I do not want my review page to turn into a flame war.**

**And speaking of flamers… if you don't like how my story is turning out, the solution is simple:  
Stop reading it.  
If you don't like how the story is turning out based on personal opinions and not for the formatting or anything similar, then just stop reading. No flames, no nothing, there are tons of other stories out there, or even better, go make your own.**

**I only accept **_**CONTRUCTIVE CRISTISM!**_

**I do NOT wish to offend anyone but for future references to any flamers here is my opinion of doing them:  
Just don't.**

**And for everyone else who reviewed, Thank you so much for liking Poke' Adventures and for reviewing in general. You guys are great for that and I hope you are enjoying my story and that it fulfills your needs for a decent story for not only on abilityshipping but also for a Pokemon Fanfiction that actually sticks to the plot as well.  
Thank you and enjoy Chapter 8!**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 8

A Battle before Battles

(Day 1:part II and 2:part I of the Initiation)

_With Anabel in the Battle tower_…

When Pikachu and Espeon came back from their small misadventure, they still saw Anabel waiting for Ash to return. This concerned Pikachu, worried what might have happened for him to come back so late.  
"Pi-kachu?" He asked the Salon Maiden.

Anabel simply frowned "I don't know where he might be Pikachu. He should've been here a lot sooner." She sighed before crouching down to the two Pokemon. "I'm afraid we'll have to wait for him at the house, if he doesn't come back before night fall I'll send Togakiss to look for him. Is that alright?"

"Pika pika…" He said before his ears stated to twitch. He turned away from her to get a better sound. It was coming from the elevator.

"Something wrong Pikachu?" She asked him as the two Pokemon kept staring at the elevator. Anabel frowned again; there shouldn't be anyone coming up now, someone would have paged her. Well then, she would just have to politely tell them that she's done for the day, she thought marching up to the elevator

The doors opened and she didn't even have a chance to open her mouth before she was loudly interrupted by the boy she was worried about earlier.

"ANABEL! I'M SOO SOORY THAT I'M LATE! I—"Ash stopped in mid sentence crashing into the Salon Maiden Anabel, thus causing her to fall backwards. Before he had time to think, Ash quickly caught her around the waist.

"Anabel, are you alright? I didn't mean—"

"Ash, can you please let me go?" Anabel interrupted meekly, her face turning as red as a blaziken.

"Oh! Yeah sorry." He said letting go of her while experiencing a funny feeling right now. Oh well, it must be because he was hungry.

Anabel dusted herself off before looking at him. "Ash, thank you for catching my fall but— wait… Is that a black eye?" She asked pointing at the shiny black ring that surrounded his right eye.

"Esee?"

"Pikapi?"

"Wait I have a black eye?" He asked oblivious to his injury.

Anabel and the Pokemon nodded vigorously. "Yes! How did you get it; did you get into a fight with someone?" She asked her voice rising slightly.

Ash denied this. "No not really. Though it may have happened when I tripped on that bluff…"

"What?"

"Or it could have happened when that golem punched me for accidently tripping over him." Ash said rubbing his chin.

"What- Who- Why- Ash, I sent you on a flying trip to Vermillion city! How the heck did you do that to yourself?" Anabel clasped her hand on her forehead in exasperation.

Ash eyes darted around the room looking sheepish. "Well, I did get there on time… but then the company I delivered the package to asked me to do a few favors for them, so I kinda exhausted Staraptor too much and then I had to run all the way here. On the way I also got chased by some golems and got lost and tripped down a bluff… that's sort of why I'm late. Once again I'm so sorry for being late Anabel, I tried to get here as fast as I—" He was silenced by her up raised hand.

"You ran. All the way here?" Her voice was surprisingly calm now. Ash nodded daring not to speak. "How is that possible? You should have collapsed in exhaustion by now, not to mention getting here tomorrow."

Ash was bold enough to answer her question. "Well I don't feel tired; as for the paths, it was really weird, the roads were really short all of a sudden. Almost like a video game. Can I please apologize now for being late?"

Despite of the ridiculousness of the situation, hearing this, Anabel smiled kindly at him. "There's no need to be sorry Ash. I understand your predicament, just, don't go around doing favors for everyone you meet and then tiring out your pokemon. We need you and them in tip-top shape, okay?"

Ash nodded enthusiastically, grateful that he wasn't going to get yelled at.  
"Pika-chu, Pikachu!"

"Espee- Epseon!"

Anabel laughed "Your right, he's still rash."

Ash frowned at them picking Pikachu up. "Okay, I won't do something like that again. Can we go to your house now, I'm starving, and I'll even make dinner if we leave now."

* * *

Both were relieved when they headed out of the tower (after Anabel checked up on everything).

When they did get back, Ash started to get the meal going (due to the deal) as Anabel said she had to get something from the other side of the house. Next thing he knew he had, an ice pack on his eye and a Poke'navi in his hand.

"Uhmmm… what's this for?" he asked eyeing the familiar device in his palm while his other hand held up the ice pack.

"This. Is for contacting me in case anything comes up like today for example; you know how to use one? "She asked pointing at it.

Ash fiddled around with the buttons. "Kinda, it was always Max who used it. I'm not that good with technology you see."

"Pika Pika." Agreed Pikachu.

Anabel sighed, mentally adding to teach Ash about tech on her to-do-list. "So what are we having?" She decided to change the subject looking at the ingredients of their dinner were currently displayed on the counter.

"Something simple." Was his reply. "Do you think you can feed the Pokemon while I work on this?"

"Yeah sure thing, just don't burn the house down while I'm gone!" She laughed when he cried out an indignant 'Hey!' as she headed out the door followed by Pikachu and Espeon.

There was only a shimmer of the sun left over the horizon, the color purple almost swallowed the entire sky by now.  
Anabel sensed the presence of both hers and Ash Pokemon in the thick woods when she retrieved the Poke'food to lay it out on the lawn. They headed out call for them.

"Pikachu, pi…" Pikachu said worriedly, as they traveled deeper within the dark flora that surrounded them.

"Don't worry Pikahcu. No one will hurt us here." Anabel soothed him sending out calming emotions.

To anyone, it would be considered dangerous to go wandering about a forest at night. Of course not everyone is Anabel; Most Pokemon both wild and tame would never consider harming her, she was a friend to all.

"Espe Espeon!" The psychic type called out when she spotted the silhouettes of the Pokemon.

_Switching to Pokemon translations…_

"Hey everyone time to eat!" The Pokemon whipped their heads around towards her voice. They rushed past her, eager to get to their meal saying thank you as they ran.  
Anabel just smiled at their behavior while also letting Pikachu go off with them. Whether you were a pokemon or human the reaction is still the same when it comes to the glory of food.

Taking both hers and Espeon's time, Anabel walked slowly while trying to think about today. Who knew that the first day could be such a hassle? She managed to finish her paper work but now she was left with an injured trainer and a fear to send him out again in case something worse might happen. What could she do now?

"Mistress what's wrong?" Espeon called out to her trainer knowing that something else was on her mind "Is it the trainer, Ash?"

"Am I that easy to read right now?" She asked her partner almost bemused.

Espeon gave out a very un-lady like snort. "No. You been easy to read since the beginning of the day; so much that I could read you when I was with Pikachu."

Anabel gave out a half-hearted chuckle. "I can never hide anything from you. Yes, It is about Ash." She said as she stopped walking and flopped down on the grass with a sigh. "On the first day he got himself lost and injured." She exasperated "I wouldn't be surprised if he gets hospitalized the next time I send him on something like that."

"Maybe… _Are_ you going to send him on another trip?" Espeon asked. It was officially dark now, and the only light was the small red gem on her forehead and the glow of the half moon over head.

"No." Anabel said. "I'm thinking of… finally battling them tomorrow. Call me impatient but I want to see how much they developed over the year." She smiled. "I guess it's my trainer side that wants to have a good battle again."

"That and you just want to have a way to get a stress reliever from your emotions." Espeon jibbed.

A small blush came over Anabel's cheeks. "Yes, that's one reason too." She got up. "Come on; let's go home, I'm starved."

* * *

"Hey Anabel! Anabel! Where is she?" Ash called out for the night. He held two plates in his hand and wearing green apron he found. _"Anabel, where are you?"_

"Right hear Ash." Anabel called from behind.

"WAAHH?" Ash jumped up from surprise. "Hey! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Anabel smirked ignoring him and swiped a plate for herself. "So, what did you make for us tonight?" The meal (like he said earlier) was apparently simple; a sandwich cut into three small triangles, with a creamy filling within and an orange sauce covering it.

"Nothing much, just something I learned from Brock." He said with a slight frown, still a little miffed at her for sneaking up on him like that. He watched Anabel take a small bite from her sandwich and observed her eyes widen in surprise.

"Wow Ash this is really good!" She exclaimed as they both sat down on the porch. "Have you ever considered being a chef perhaps? This is delicious."

Ash unknowingly felt heat in his cheeks for the unusual complement, though he would later believe it was because of the tomato berry he experimented in the sauce. He would try to be more careful next time when testing the berry that continued to plague him.  
"Naw, not really, I rather be a Pokemon trainer, but thanks anyway." They took a few more few bites before Ash brought up the conversation again.  
"So, what will I be doing tomorrow?

Anabel hesitated for a bit. "Well… how would you say that we battle tomorrow?"

Hearing this Ash immediately jumped up in excitement. "Really? That would be awesome! I been wanting to battle you ever since I got here!" He could hardly keep his excitment down as he began to hope form one foot to another.

She laughed a bit at his antics. "I guess that's a yes. How does a simple three on three match sound?"

"Great! Are you going to use different Pokemon this time? I would love to see them in action." He exclaimed, his enthusiasm not calming down.

"Yeah… I will." But secretly Anabel peered at him gauging his emotions. Obviously he was thrilled and there seemed to be nothing else. No discomfort, no caution, nothing negative like Brandon told her about when he judged the battle between Ash and the Sinnoh trainer Paul. _'Maybe we were wrong.' _She hoped. _'It could just have been a simple misjudgment.' _

* * *

_The next morning…_

The sun was rising and pidgeys were flying through the open morning air. We see our hero, Ash in front of his Pokemon, clearly deciding which one to best combat the Salon Maiden while giving them a talk to what's to come.

"Alright everyone listen up!" Ash called the attention of his Pokemon lined up in a row, including Pikachu. "We are about to have a very important fight this morning. And I'm not talking about a gym leader type of fight guys; this more similar fighting an Elite Four member." The Pokemon, except Pikachu, began to look at each other nervously. Seeing his team faces Ash quickly explained things. "Don't worry, they're not as strong as an actual Elite Four Member. This is a Frontier Brain, and the one we will be fighting will have a special ability to call out attacks to her Pokemon and we won't be able to hear them but don't worry, I know her strategy. We'll be able to win this battle guys, are you ready?"

The Pokemon began to cheer letting out their respective shouts.

"Bui Bui!"

"Torterra!"

"Infer!"

"Starrrrr Staraptor!"

"Pika Pikachu!"

"Alright!... Hey. Where's Gible?" Ash asked to them, noticing his Land Shark Pokemon nowhere in sight.

"Gible!"

_CHOMP._

"Ah… there you are Gible." He said causally as said Pokemon munched on his head. Ash took him off of his chewed on cranium holding the dragon type up to his face. "Did you hear everything I said?" To his great relief, Gible nodded. Finally with his team prepared Ash called them all to their Poke'balls. When he was finished Pikachu hopped on his shoulder as they headed off towards the battle tower.  
Things seemed to be looking up to Ash; he had a great breakfast prepared for him earlier, he got to train his Pokemon for a little bit, his black eye faded and hurt less now, even the weather was being favorable. He knew that this was going to be great win for today.  
But in the back of his mind he could hear a dark chuckle causing him to unknowingly lose his confidence in himself.

'_**We'll see about that.'**_

"Pika Pikapi? Pi Pi Pika." Pikachu tugged on his partners clothing. Ash slowed down walking for a bit. Ash heard his starter's voice and smiled at him, telling him in a way not to worry. Ash secretly shrugged to voice off, just like he did in Sinnoh, he wouldn't let it deteriorate him like other times.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten that those other times started out just like this.

He could see Anabel and her referee Maron standing in front of the Battle Tower doors waiting for him. Ash and Pikachu waved at the two letting them know that they arrived.

"Heeyyy!"

"Ka-Chu Pika!"

Anabel and Maron glanced their way and waved back till Ash reached up to them. "Are you ready for a battle to remember Anabel?" He asked regaining his enthusiasm by seeing her.

"You bet she is!" Maron answered instead of her, adding "Are you ready to lose Ash Ketchum?" However instead of retorting back a smarmy comeback like they expected he just tilted his head down slightly and said in a defensive voice. "No… no I'm not."

Anabel eyes narrowed at this but then quickly smiled at Ash. "Oh come on Ash; let's just do our best, okay?" This seemed to cheer him up a little as he answered with an upbeat 'Yeah sure.'

As they walked through the doors of the battle tower Ash began to speak again. "So what will I expect this time around?"

"Well, let's just say Ash that I'm a lot stronger then I formally was last time. Also I want you to do something."

"Yeah, what is it?" He asked as they walked in the elevator.

"Even though this battle is for gauging how much you improved over the course of the year, I am going to take this battle as though I am facing an opponent that is above my level. I will give you everything I got even though where friends. Do you understand that Ash?"

Ash glanced oddly at Anabel. "Um… okay." He answered as they rode on silently in the elevator

'_**Yeeesss, you understand. You understand that this battle will show you how pathetic you are. You will embarrass yourself in front of her on how your continuously endanger your Pokemon in battle.'**_

'_No that's not true, I… I don't try to __get my Pokemon harmed in battle.' _Ash pathetically retorted.

This only seemed to make the voice more amused. _**"Hmmph. Please, what friend are you if you only battle them to lose and have them injured. Let's see how well you fare in this battle against a opponent who's Pokmeon will also get hurt just like in the battle with Paul.'**_

Ash eyes widen at that statement. He didn't want to hurt Anabel's Pokemon. _'No! I can prove that can win the battle without causing anyone to be seriously injured.'_ Ash said to 'himself'. Meanwhile Anabel was observing the hidden conversation of Ash's mind secretly. She could feel his resolve, confidence,pride and emotions, shift and turn like a rollercoaster on hyper-drive.

'_I knew that it was too good to be true; alright so it only comes out when Ash's resolve really matters. Now I need to see how much it hinders him.' _The elevator dinged snapping the two out of their thoughts. Pikachu looked at them both concerned about their quietness on the elevator ride. The two trainers and Pokemon entered a room with a large Pokemon Battle field in the center, it was similar to the one they fought in last year, the only differences in it was that it had large giant windows on opposing sides instead of the large lighting system; most likely due to Anabel's caution to not repeat the last incident.

They both went to the opposite ends of the field and began to stare at each other until Maron began to officially announce the match.

"The battle between the Salon Maiden Anabel and the trainer, Ash Ketchum, will now start. This will be a three on three single battle; when all Pokemon on one trainers side are knocked out, the battle will be decided. Since this is a normal battle, both trainers shall be able to call on substitutes during the match. And. BEGIN!"

"Let's start this off strong! Buizel I choose you!"Ash called throwing his Poke'ball in the air. In a flash of white light, the Sea Weasel Pokemon was standing on the battle field.

"Bui Buizel!"

Anabel did a similar action. "Go my friend! Show them what you got." And in another red light a small purple round Pokemon. Two small little black strings with yellow knobs at the ends hung at his sides. A small tuff of white material was plopped on his head, and a yellow X-shaped bandaged was placed between his two beady black eyes

"Driffflooon." He said lazily as it swayed slightly in the breeze.

Ash observed his opponent. _'A flying and ghost type against a water type. That seems like a fair match up. Of course I could use Ice Punch to do major damage.'_

'_**Yes, that sounds reasonable mostly because you can never seem to battle fairly with an opponent of equal skill.' **_The voice said making Ash to slightly grind his teeth.

"Here's your first lesson on being a Battle Brain Ash, it is customary for the challenger to go first." Anabel called from across the field.

"Okay then. Buziel circle around the field with Aqua Jet!" Ash called trying to ignore the voice.

Water surrounded Buizel in a blazing glory. The water shot high in the air and quickly got behind Balloon Pokemon and headed toward him at an alarming speed.  
Anabel was prepared for this tactic and already called an attack of her own. _'My friend stay calm and fly up above Buizel, and then use Shadow Ball when he's below you.'_

And that's exactly what happened. In the nick of time Drifloon flew up faster than what was expected of his shape and managed to dodge the oncoming torrent of water. A ball of purple energy formed in front of his yellow bandage.

"Flloooooon!" he cried when he released its attack. The shadow ball hurtled towards Buizel and the two attacks indirectly collided. Thankfully for the protective shielding of Aqua Jet, the damage of the ghost attack was cut in half, but sent the Sea Weasel to go into the ground leaving a trail of upturned dirt behind him.

"Ah! Buizel are you okay?" His trainer called out from the edge. Pikachu cried out with his trainer as well, trying to encourage the water type.  
Buizel managed to get on his feet with little effort, with a smirk on his face showing that he wasn't even laid up by the attack.

"Buizzeeell!" he assured his trainer.

"All right! We're not going to have a small attack like that finish us off!" Ash tried to encourage his Pokemon, but on the other hand it didn't help that Ash himself didn't believe it himself, he was currently being berated by the voice for letting Buizel get attacked first.  
Outwardly Ash and his words showed confidence, and would have fooled most people. But Pokemon were a different story, especially ones with a trainer. Pokemon, like Buizel, could unconsciously sense the level of belief the trainer had in the battle and themselves. And currently Ash's belief in himself was also affecting Buizel's performance in battle  
This wasn't the first time that happened.

Anabel's eyes narrowed slightly but continued to attack. _'Drifloon, you're doing great, keep an eye on Buizel's next attack and go in for an Ominous Wind."_

The ghost type followed his mistress's commands; he slowly made his way toward Buizel, eyeing his opponent.

In the meantime Ash was peering back and forth between Anabel and Drifloon, guessing what their next attack might be. _'I got to find a way to get Anabel off guard, Drifloon has both speed and agility to easily dodge and speedy attack like Aqua Jet. And… Ah I got it!.'_

'_**Do you?'**_

'_Grrrrr, shut up!'_

"Buizel use Aqua Jet again and head directly at Drifloon!" Ash called toward Buizel. _'I need to figure out when she will call it to dodge.'_

Anabel nearly scoffed at the simple move. "Ash, you're going to have to do a lot better than that if you want to defeat me!" _'Drifloon dodge upward and use that Ominous Wind now!' _

"Buizel go upward and use Counter Water Gun!" Ash yelled when Drifloon began to dodge up.

"What?"

"Buizel!" Buizel yelled taking the Aqua Jet above the Balloon Pokemon. He halted the stream of water and started to twirl in the air while letting a steady Water Gun from his mouth. Soon the Water Gun was making beautiful arcs around Buizel, circling around in high pressured streams.

One of these streams hit poor Drifloon right on its head as it floated toward the ceiling. The impact caused the ghost type to go crashing right on the ground just before its trainer.

"Oh my! Drifloon stay strong my friend!" Anabel cried out to her precious pokemon forgoing her telepathic abilities. But, like Buizel, he 'hopped' back in to the air with a determined look on his face not wanting to let his trainer down. Anabel sensed his feelings and intentions and could help but thank him. "Thank you, Drifloon."

"Flooon!" You could nearly see a red tinge on his cheeks from hearing the gratitude.

Ash managed a smile at the scene, and at the fact that he was able to land a hit on Drifloon. Maybe the battle will turn out well, unlike what that voice said.  
But the voice wasn't done yet.

'_**Look at that! See how that Pokemon reacts from the simpilest compliment from its trainer! You can't even do that with Pikachu. How sad it must be for them your Pokemon.'**_

'_No it's not like that at all.' _Hastily he cried out "Now use Water Pulse."

"Zel Buizel!" he cried out forming a swirling mass of blue energy between his paws. He let go of the attack toward Drifloon. It tore through the ground from its force. The sheer power of it could've intimidated most trainers but this was Anabel. She was a Frontier Brain and she held plenty of power of her own.

'_Drifloon use Shadow Ball to counter it.' _The purple ball of energy was back again in front of Drifloon.

"Drif, Drifloon!" He cried releasing the attack; it up heaved the dirt in its wake. The Blue and Purple spheres collided in a steaming blast.

'_Why didn't she dodge that?' _Ash thought observing the sight; Buizel stood before the steam preparing for whatever maybe coming next. Suddenly purple winds flowed over the steam homing onto Buizel. "UH? BUIZEL WATCH OUT!"

"BUI?" But it was too late, the purple winds enveloped the Sea Weasel Pokemon. When they left, Buizel was on his knees weakened from the attack. "Buiii… zeeell…" he moaned in pain.

"Please Buizel get up!" Ash cried, his voice being laced with worry.  
Buizel struggled to his feet trying to not let his trainer down but the process was almost too painful to bear. The Ominous Wind was particularly effective*.

"Buiz…el." Buizel managed to rise to his feet, despite of his injuries and tried to reassure his trainer with a thumb up. But regardless of this, Ash couldn't help but feel bad for letting the attack reach to his Pokemon.  
_'I should have paid more attention to the field. Gosh, I'm so stupid.'  
__**'Heh, a simple tactic use of a smoke screen, didn't you use something like that once?**_'  
_'Arrrrg! I said be quiet!' _Ash nearly snarled _'I guess I have no choice.' _He thought as the steam was slowly clearing. "Buizel go and use Ice punch!" He yelled using it to his advantage. Buizel summoned what's left of his strength to rush at a higher speed then previously seen causing Anabel to be caught off guard. Buizel's ice blue paw made contact with Drifloon's surface causing major damage with the super effective attack.

"Driffloooon!" The ghost type cried out in pain; he bounced on the dirt.

"No Drifloon!" Anabel cried, she didn't expect Ash to respond so quickly. But she had to calm down for her Pokemon's sake. His performance depended on whether or not she had faith in herself as she did in Drifloon.  
She looked at the exhausted as ready to faint Buizel and the exasperated Ash. Based on her knowledge, someone of Buizel's temper would have fared better with this much damage. But she knew that Buizel was losing faith in himself, just like Ash was losing faith in himself.

'_I know you can do it Drifloon, I'm here for you.' _She called out to him and though Drifloon took a direct powered up Water Gun and Ice Punch, the Balloon Pokemon slowly but surely rose up from the ground hearing his trainer's voice. He would not let her down, he would prevail.  
Ash stared in amazement at Drifloon's feat as he heard Anabel's voice call out to him. "Ash, this has been a good match but now it time I end this." She called to her Pokemon for the final attack not bothering to use her telepathy. "Drifloon, use Thunder!"

Ash eyes widen when sparks of electricity circled around her Pokemon's surface, knowing what was coming he desperately cried out for Buizel to dodge it. _'No! I can't let Buizel get harmed like that!" _"Buizel use Aqua Jet to get out of there."  
The water type tried desperately to summon the energy to dodge but its previous injuries were hindering him greatly.

When he managed to just barely jump to move and avoid it, it was too late.

A huge bolt of lightning struck our hero's Pokemon in such fury that Buizel couldn't even cry out before he was knocked out.

"Buizel cannot continue for this battle; the winner of this match belongs to Anabel."

"BUIZEL!" Ash cried out in vain.

'_**Heh… you're pathetic.'**_

Now the first round of Ash and Anabel's battle has been decided, Ash down to two Pokemon and Anabel still holding three. How will Ash be able to comeback this situation?  
Find out next chapter on _'From One Side to Another'_.

End of Chapter 8

* * *

**Don't you just hate that voice?**

**Also I don't know what the heck they eat in Pokemon. It's like David Bow—I mean Kakashi says in Ninjabridged. It's one of those questions you never ask.**

**Well? What do you think? This my first battle scene and I hope it met your expectations. I tried to make it descriptive, fulfilling, and good to its roots.  
And if you look closely at the beginning of the chapter there is a bit of …I don't know… SOMETHING on Ashy-boy's side! Wink Wink! **

***Shadow Ball has a chance of lowering your Special defence, so Ominous Wind was able to do more damage to Buizel then normally.**

**I need to ask you a few things that I would like for you to tell me on your reviews or if you want private messaging.**

**1.)Am I being a good Author? I'm I being entertaining and informing you about the story enough?**

**2.)Is this story too similar to 'From Servant to Stardom'?**

**3.)What would you like to see specifically?**

**4.)Does anyone know who is Anabel's referee's name is, the Green haired guy? I just call him John but if anyone can find his real name then I will be happy to fix it.  
_Edit: I fixed his name. Everyone Thank WWII Historian and Bulbapedia for this! Thank you!_**

**Oh and one more thing, the polls for the other stories are still up if you haven't voted yet. And for those just tuning in to this story (shame on you) the descriptions of the stories are on the chapter previously.**

**Please also review this story and please point out specifically for a mistake I might have missed. I do proofread this story but I might have missed something. Please say where and I will go and fix it.**

**Tell your friends about me!**

**Warning the fallowing notes is spoiler for Pokemon Black and White. (I'm talking 'I go to serebii .com type of Spoiler) If you do not wish to have the Plot revealed then please stop reading right now.**

**Xxx**

**Xx**

**Xx**

**Are you still here? Kay! I just want to talk about Pokemon the series for a jiff. I am actually surprised to say at least. Despite of his earlier noob moments, Ash has showed surprisingly large amount of maturity while still remaining as himself. He is more confident in his abilities and not letting things such as loses get to him. I don't care what people say about old Ash being the best, I like his developing personality. And he is actually breaking from the normal 'Only six pokemon to capture in the series' routine. I would have never expected him to catch those Pokemon. **

**Finally he got a dark type and a rock type. All that's left is a psychic and steel type to get.**

**Ash. Catch a Mettagross.  
Though I will never believe he is still 10**

**P.S Sewaddle Is the most FREAKING CUTETESS THING IN THE WORLD!  
But it still can't beat Litwick.**

**Cilan is a character I like. He is just… perky and loves what he does. I can relate with that.**

**Iris… meh she's alright but she is just as immature as Ash, but we'll see in time.**

**Bianca and Burgh are amazing. They made me laugh out loud with their personalities.**

**And I think Lenora is the best thing to happen so far in Unova. She's great.**


	9. Fall of a Winner

**Hello PEEPS! Blue here and chapter nine is too: 'The Fall of a Winner'. I was half tempted to also call it: 'Now we know what the heck is going on.' Seriously this chapter explains a lot of the questions who had in the reviews. It was also the hardest chapter to write as well. But it doesn't explain all that is in the story  
I had to do a lot, and I mean A LOT of modifying to make sure that I can at least make the characters script actually sound like them. Still I'm not sure about it but there is not much I can do now. With that said the characters now know what the internal conflict is in the story.  
Speaking of which this Fanfiction does have both internal and external conflicts.**

**We also learn a bit about Anabel here. Another reason to make this story is not only for abilityshipping but to flesh out my most favorite character in the Pokémon series, Anabel. Seriously she had the potential to be a decent character.**

**Also let me get one thing clear about Ash in this story. This is Fanfiction! Ash will be a bit more different in here than he is in the series! I'm am trying to take a different turn on Ash, as he is a fourteen year old boy in the story who is currently going through puberty. His identity and ideals are being challenged; I believe most of the readers know what I am talking about when we go through our adolescence years. Okay?**

**On a side note I also wish to thank the reviews who write very encouraging stuff that keeps me motivated on this story.  
I hope I fulfill your needs for a good Abilityshipping Fanfiction.**

**Thank you and enjoy chapter 9.**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me**

* * *

'_**From One Side to Another'**_

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 9

Fall of a Winner

(Day 2 of the Initiation: Part II)

When we last left, our hero Ash Ketchum was currently in a heated battle against the powerful Salon Maiden Anabel. In the first round it was Ash's Buizel verses Anabel's Drifloon; initially an even match up. But, thanks to a foreign yet familiar visitor in Ash's head, the trainer's lack of confidence cost him the match. With two Pokémon left on his side and three left on the Frontier Brains side, how will this battle turn out?

"Buizel…" Ash stared at the Sea Weasel's Poke'Ball, after he called him back, with sadness. He let him down, all because of his incompetence. He should've paid more attention to Anabel's attack; instead he got Buizel hurt. Pikachu stayed silent, as this was not his partner's normal behavior.

Anabel stared worriedly at Ash. What happened to that brave trainer that took his lost in a stride when he first battled her? What happened to the trainer that would stare at awe at his opponent tactics and complimented them even when he was losing? Now it was like he was falling into a pit of despair. He was distracted by the thought of having his Pokémon harmed. Battles were now a chore for him, not an enjoyment or a way to express his excitement.  
"Keep it together girl." She said to herself. "You need to make him realize this." She looked toward her Drifloon, still standing but panting hard due to the earlier damage done to it. Drifloon could defiantly hold its own for a few more hits but she didn't want to exhaust the poor thing, not after all the hard work he had done for the first round.  
"Drifloon, return." She raised her Poke'Ball to call him back in a beam of red light. "Get a good rest my friend. If anything, you deserved it."  
She clicked off another Poke'Ball from her belt and enlarged it but waited till Ash called out his first.

And Ash did that exactly, though he didn't look too pleased to call out another one of his friends. He also understood why Anabel called back Drifloon, he would've done the same if the battle was on his side. "I'll try my best." He said quietly to his Poke'Ball. He threw it and out came Infernape. But like always when Ash would try his best there was the voice to put him down.  
_**'You always said that on the battles that you usually lose; doesn't make much of a difference when it's you who's saying it.'  
**_Ash said nothing to retaliate back; he just didn't want to think about it. "So, what are you going to call on next?" He asked Anabel, noticing how quiet things were.

Anabel almost smiled, glad that he was at least talking to her. "A good friend of mine that Scott gave me not too long ago." She answered. Then she threw her capsule device out to the field. "Go my friend, do your best." In the flash of white light was the mighty Gleam-Eyes Pokémon, Luxray.

"LUUXRAAAY!" He roared revealing shining sharp fangs trying to intimidate his opponent. And though Infernape was a bit put off by this; the fire type roared back with its own ferocity.

"IN-INFERNAPE!" Both he and Ash realized that this could be similar to the battle they had with Volkner

This time Anabel made her move first. _'Luxray, jump behind it and use Thunder Fang.'_  
Luxray nodded, and with eagerness to battle and surprising agility, Luxray leaped high in the air with his teeth crackling with electricity.

"Raaayyy!"

Luckily, Ash was able to spot this just in time. "Infernape use Mach Punch to get Luxray away from you!" He commanded the Flame Pokémon just when Luxray landed behind Infernape.

But Anabel was able to counter this counter. _'Luxray try to bite the arm. I know it might hurt you but it will also damage your opponent.' _She called out as a silver glow of power covered Infernape's arm when it swung. Most Pokémon would never do something that dangerous, but Anabel's Luxray was a warrior at heart. Never faltering in his attack, Luxray took the brunt of the Mach Punch when it clamped on to the swinging attack, but like what Anabel ordered, the Thunder Fang was able to execute the attack before he was swung off Infernape's arm.

"Infernape are you alright?" Ash glanced at the arm that took the full force of the attack, Infernape was trying to move it but the movements were stiff and jagged.  
_'His arm was paralyzed by the Thunder Fang.'_ Ash observed through gritted teeth. Now the battle will be a lot harder for the both for them.  
_**'Not that the results would be different with the injury.'**_ The voice said making Ash's and Infernape's assurance in the battle falter.

Anabel glanced over her Luxray. The Gleam-Eyes Pokémon was shaking his head the null the pain. Right now the battle was doing decently; both parties had one attack on each other.  
But now it was time to ramp it up more.  
_'Alright Luxray I want you to charge toward Infernape and wait for my command."_

"Luxray! LUX!" The electric type began to charge toward the flame Pokémon, fangs bared.

"Use Flame Thrower Infernape!" Ash commanded trying to stop the attack before it could begin without harming Infernape's arm.

"In-Infernape!" he said about to release the torrent of fire firm his mouth.

Anabel frowned expecting it _'You know that you're too experienced to go for the direct attack Ash. Luxray, Jump and use Signal Beam in his face."_

The lion-like Pokémon jumped high above again, dodging the stream of flame and put his paws in front of him to dive forward at Infernape.

"INFER?"

'_NOW!'_

"LUX-RAAYYYY!" A purple beam shot out of Luxray's mouth just when the Pokémon was about a meter away from Infernape's face. Initially, a bug type move would not have that much effect on a fighting type, but at point blank range, and with the fact that Luxray is a _Frontier Brain's_ Pokémon, it wouldn't matter much.

Infernape clutched his face in pain from the attack backing away from Luxray. Ash stared in horror as he observed his losing battle. How could he have missed that? This was just like the time with Buizel and Ominous Wind.

'_**And other battles as well, don't forget. As soon as someone actually put's strategy in a battle, you fall apart. You're weak, Ketchum and always will be.'**_

Ash said nothing, too weary of arguing with the voice. He needed to focus more, Infernape's almost out of battle and—wait.

A fiery aura surrounded Infernape, and his irises shrunk into minuscule size.  
"IIINNNFFEERRRAAPPPPPEEEE!" His crown of fire burst into a new level of fury.

Anabel stared at the spectacle in awe of Infernape's remarkable ability; she grinned hoping that this will help Ash get into spirit. Luxray sensed this, and barked mentally to her to take another look. Ash's face was that of desperate resolve, he was clinging on to this ability to at least do some damage but not to win. It was dangerous for anyone with that mindset. Ash could harm himself greatly if he kept that up.

Ash kept deciding what to do. _'When Infernape is like this, that means he can only take one more hit, but his attacks are boosted. I need to end this, I believe in Infernape, I need to depend on him and trust his skills.'_

'_**Even though **__**your**__** skills are nothing short but useless.'**_

"Infernape use Flame Thrower on the ground." He ordered knowing what he had to do next. "I'm depending on you."

"Fer Fernape!" The Flame Pokemon released the fire on to the ground like Ash said and created a barrier of fire on the ground due to the sheer power of it.

"What is he up to?" Anabel muttered to herself; Luxray kept at bay from the barrier of fire while looking for any signs of an opening.

"Now use Dig with all you got!" Ash gave his last command. Infernape summoned all his power within his being as he dug in the ground.

Anabel looked warily at the ground beneath Luxray's feet. She was no fool when it came to the attack Dig, it would do major damage to Luxray, who had a low defense, adding on to the super affective attack.  
Then a hole broke through the ground behind Luxray, causing the Gleam-Eyes Pokémon to look back in surprise.  
"LUX?"

"Luxray use Swift in the hole!" Anabel called out loud.

"LUXRAY!" He jumped up above the hole seeing a the fiery aura of Infernape in it. He shifted his tail and sent the swirling stars of Swift down it. Luxray could see the mad fury of Infernape climbing up the hole when the attack hit him.

"Luxray?" He cried in surprise when Infernape just continued on the attack.

"Oh no, Luxray!" Anabel cried when she realized that Luxray was now in a defenseless position in air.  
"INFERNAPE!" The fire type cried when he used the final stage of Dig.

"Luxraaaaaa!" Luxray cried out when he was hit, the electric type fell to the ground, fainted.

Maron looked back in forth between the two Pokémon. "All right, Luxray can no long continue to—"

"INFERNAPEEE….." Ash's best Sinnoh fighter fell to his knees, in exhaustion, finally feeling the attack Swift made on him now as he was no longer in a ballistic rage.  
Ash silenced was not unexpected, he knew that Infernape couldn't last long and recalled him back without complaint.

Anabel and Maron gave startled looks at this; the referee soon just shrugged and called the match. "Well… I guess both Pokémon can no longer to continue the battle. It's a double knock out."

'_**This battle is pointless; the girl still has two Pokémon while you only have one more left. Do you honestly think you could win this even with your last one? Your resolve has crumbled, just like with Paul and Tobias. Nothing you can do will matter. You're pathetic '**_

"I'm sorry Infernape. I failed you." Ash said quietly to the Poke'Ball. Before calling out his Pokémon to battle he once again called out to Anabel, to settle it once and for all. "Can I ask you a question Anabel?"

"Pikachu?"

"Umm… Sure?" She didn't know where this was going.

"In the next match, your going to send out a powerhouse aren't you; one of your oldest Pokémon?"

"Yes… my Scizor, I got her as a Scyther during my journey in Kanto. Why are you asking?"

Ash sighed, his just suspicions confirmed. "Because… I have to resign from the battle."

* * *

"PIKACHU?"

"WHAT? Are you crazy?" Anabel could not believe the words that were coming out of Ash's mouth. It was unfathomable for a trainer to utter those words for no good reason. She left her post and headed to his place on the battle field "Why?"

Ash frowned. "There's really not much use now. I only have one Pokémon left, and it's almost certain that I'll lose… there's really no point, not with my skills."

Anabel's eyes narrowed at this nonsense."Maron, would you please leave us for the moment?" Maron nodded and walked out of the room leaving the two to themselves. Anabel then continued. "Is that it? The same thing happened last time we battled and you responded with vigor and enthusiasm, despite the fact that you lost. Now you fear the very thought of defeat. What happened to you in Sinnoh Ash that made you a former shell of yourself?"

"Nothing happened to me. I'm just not that good of a trainer." Ash turned his eyes away from her, but she kept questioning him.

"Was it because of Paul and his opinions or Hunter J brutal treatment of Pokémon*? Was it because of an organization that used Pokémon like tools?*" Ash said nothing so Anabel went for the kill. "Or, is it because of a foreign voice in your head that's convincing you you're not worth the effort?"

Ash's eyes widen, confirming her guess. He turned to her with shock and confusion plastered in his face. "How did… how?"

"I tell you about how I know later. First I need to collect my thoughts on the battle we had. Meet me at Cobalt Port east of here after you've rested your Pokémon. Ask for my name when you get there, the residents know me. …You better have good answers to why you resigned Ash." With that Anabel turned and left to Ash to his thoughts.

* * *

"Pikapi… Pikachu had been staring at his trainer from his arms for quite a while now after they left the Pokémon Center. Not even a peep has come from Ash's lips; the boy was in deep thought, deciphering what it could mean on Anabel knowing about his 'small' problem. Speaking of which, the voice had been silent, now that the battle was over. But it was to be expected, the voice usually only came out during battles.

"What's wrong?" He finally responded to Pikachu. The electric type gave him a hard look as he put his paws on his hips. "Oh… right. I'm one to talk."

"Pikapika Chu ka-Pika!" Pikachu almost yelled at his trainer. He wanted Ash to get out of this slump. Why was he back in it? Didn't Ash's mom talk him out of it? Well dear readers, she talked him out of it _temporarily_. Not every problem can be solved so quickly, and for Ash's case it will take time for him to break free of the clutches of the voice.

It took fifteen minutes to reach Cobalt Port. He and Pikachu never heard of this town and they could see why. The town was minuscule, even smaller then Pallet Town. The majority of the buildings/houses were near the sea's edge where small boats carried cargo near the shore line. Majority of the architect was stone and wood with the tallest structure only being three stories high.  
But it certainly was lively. People bustled about their business, from the workers lifting boxes from the docks to people working in their small gardens in the back of town. There were lots of Pokémon too. Flying types were carrying letters and small parcels back and forth from each house, grass types helping the plants stay healthy and fighting and ground types working with heavy construction. One could say this would be the ideal small town to grow up in. Ash marveled at the sight, almost wishing he lived here for his youth.

"Pikachu, Pikapi pika-chu Kachu Pika?" Pikachu tugged on his sleeved shacking him out of his thoughts.

"Right, we need to find Anabel." Ash saw someone walking by them and decided to ask him. "Excuse me sir." The man stopped and turned to them.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Do you know where I can find a girl named Anabel in this town?" To Ash and Pikachu's great surprise, the man's face broke into a massive grin.

"Well, of course! There isn't a person who wouldn't know the famous Salon Maiden!" He pointed to a white and brownish building of the left side on town. "She's right over there." Then the man looked slyly at Ash. "You wouldn't happen to be on a date with her are you?"

Ash became very confused at this. _'A… a date? Why would anyone think that?'_ "Uhm. No, I'm sorry."  
"Pika…pi."

"Ah well… have a good time and I'm glad I could be of service." The man waved them off as he left.

All Ash could say was. "That was weird."

But the man spoke the truth as they saw Anabel sitting in the courtyard outside of the building. She was in a fine wooden chair with a small table between her and another chair; her green hat off to the side. Anabel saw them and smiled sadly but was still glad that Ash had the willingness to come. Just when Ash and Pikachu were about to sit down another man came from the building carrying a tray full of desserts.

"Ah. So your guest has arrived." The waiter said to Anabel "Here is your usual Miss Anabel, along with another for the young man, and my signature chocolate Poke'food for the adorable Pikachu." He set down two fancy chocolate cakes in front of them along with two cup of steamy hot tea, with cream and sugar, and two glasses of milk. Then he set a bowl of dark brown Poke'food in front of Pikachu

"Thank you, Mr. Von. What's the charge I owe you?" Anabel thanked him. Mr. Von as he was now called waved her offer off.  
"On the house Miss Anabel, I have a feeling you and your guests both need this. Call me if you something comes up."

"Who's that?" Ash asked when Mr. Von left. Things today were just getting more and more confusing.

"That was Mr. Von, the owner of the bakery here. I'm kind of a regular customer here so he knows me well."

"Oh… I didn't know." Ash said watching Pikachu take a bite of the Poke'food.

"Pika!" Pikachu squealed in delight tasting the flavor of the delicious treat. "Pikachu Kachu pika! Pika pi pi!

"Why, you are welcome Pikachu. I'm glad you like it." Anabel smiled before turning to Ash who had just taken a bite of his cake, his eyes widening at the rich flavor.

"It's good is it not?" She asked him.

Ash had a small smile on his face. "Yeah, it really is."

"Take a sip of the tea, the two combined make a really delicious accent to each other." Anabel said taking a bite of her own cake. This was her favorite treat to get at this place; no matter what mood she was in, it always helped to lighten the day.  
But even with this she had to go into a deeper topic.

"So, why do you think you are not a good trainer?" She asked when Ash was drinking his milk. Instantly he frowned and sighed.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, looking at her as she should know the answer.

"No. It's actually very confusing to me."

Ash scratched his head. "I lost."

"So I lose too but I know I'm still a good trainer." She frowned, he was avoiding the question. "Ash, tell me what is going on."

"About what?" He gave her an exasperated look, one that carried the tiredness he felt in battle.

"About what you were thinking during the battle; what is that voice telling you that makes you so hesitant in its midst, makes you lose your resolve, and that makes you fear to lose so much that you shied away from our final stage of it?" She stared at him with concern covering her face, so much that it made our hero shift uncomfortably in his seat.

"I don't know why I listen to the voice, I just do; most in the time in Sinnoh I could ignore it but now... now it's over whelming." He said a bit harshly.

"Ash…"

"Pikapi…"

"Its…I… I just don't want my Pokémon to get hurt; that I only win through blunders and that I'm afraid that I would treat them like tools in the heat of the match."

Anabel nearly laughed at the irony of it all, she of most people could.* "So… that's the reason… Well Ash, I can understand where you are coming from, especially from someone who goes the extra mile like you often do. But you are missing something important Ash; something that most trainers don't realize but are always aware of."

"What's that?" Ash asked bewilder after he took another bite of his cake.

Instead of answering, Anabel took a Poke'Ball from her belt and released the Pokémon inside.

"Espe espe." Espeon called from the ground.

"Espeon, do you mind jumping on the table so we can see you better?"

The Sun Pokémon did hop up and greeted Pikachu. "Espeon."

"Pikaachu." He offered her some Poke'food which she gladly accepted.

"Now Ash, what do you see?" Anabel asked gesturing towards the Pokémon.

"Ummm… I see Pikachu and Espeon?" Ash asked densely. What else was he suppose to see?

Anabel smiled ruefully at his thickness. "No, there's something else Ash."

Oh, now he realized. "I see my starter, my best friend who I would do anything for. I see your best friend as well Anabel, and in some aspects who is my friend as much as Pikachu is yours."

"Good answer but not what I was looking for Ash." She petted Espeon who leaned to her touch. "Lately you have been seeing them as humans Ash and I must admit that is natural considering their remarkable emotions. But they're not, they are Pokémon Ash."

The young trainer looked at Anabel, befuddled at her words, yet accepting that he had been seeing them a bit like that. "So what does that mean?"

"With all their vast differences, Pokémon have one thing in common that Humans always have differences on. They love to battle. They crave a good fight, don't you guys?"

"Pikachu kachu!"

"Es Espeon!"

Ash's eyes widened realizing she spoke the truth. He couldn't remember a Pokémon who didn't love the taste of battle. Anabel continued on. "Pokémon, don't really care if they win or lose most of the time, though winning is great in all, but what they really want to do is to grow strong and show off their stuff. They accept that they will get hurt in battle but they really don't care whether or not it is their blunder or their trainer's. That is why they can love humans so much; humans can bring out that inner potential which they can never achieve in the wild. You understand don't you?"

Ash scratched his head again. "Yeah… I do, just that I never thought Pokémon to be like that, I guess. You know a lot about Pokémon Anabel, lot more than I do."

She could feel the ghost of a blush on her cheeks. "Not as much as I would like to Ash, but thank you anyway. Now to go on the next subject."

"Which is?"

"About you were winning through blunders." Ash cringed when he heard this.

"It's true." He said before taking a drink of milk. "Even with my battle with you last year, I only won through losing the lighting."

Anabel rolled her eyes. "Do you know that only a handful of trainers win by pure tactic and skill alone?" Ash shook his head. "Do you also remember how you won against the other Frontier Brains? It was with skill and tactic alone."

"Yeah but most of my battles I've won have been through blunders."

"Yeah, and a good trainer knows to use them their advantage Ash, just like you do. True strength is not shown by skill alone but by also using circumstance to your advantage. Most trainers I have fought never consider using them to help them with the battle. In fact I think you're the only one who did it in the past three years. The only other one was this guy I fought during my first year, but then again he lost to me three times before using a circumstance to his advantage on the fourth battle."

"Really?" Ash asked honestly surprised. He couldn't help but wondered if that previous trainer was Reggie.

"Yep. Now about using Pokémon as tools in battle and I have to say that probably the most ridiculous thing I ever heard someone like you say." She said making Ash sink his head down. "You know far better than that Ash. And so do your Pokémon, right Pikachu?"

"Pi Kachu Pi-chaaa!" Pikachu rubbed alongside his arm to prove his point. But Ash still wasn't really convinced.

"How do you know about the voice? Do you know what it is?" He asked.

Anabel rested her chin on her hand. "I'll tell you as soon as were finished, as for the other question… I have… theories."

"Theories?" Ash almost snorted but then agreed that they should finish their dessert. It was not every day that he and Pikachu could have chocolaty delights. In fact he couldn't remember the last time someone treated him to desert. "Hey Anabel?" He spoke when he finished his cake.

"Hmmm?"

"Thanks for the cake. Not many of my friends treat me to these sorts of things. Pikachu and I really enjoyed this."

Anabel grinned. "You're welcome Ash. I'm more than happy to do this for you; would you like to do this more often?"

For some reason hearing this, Ash felt the funny feeling again bubble up inside him at the thought of him, Pikachu and Anabel eating together like this again. "Of course. Right buddy?" he asked Pikachu.

"Pi Pika!"

* * *

When they left after thanking Mr. Von to the path back toward the Battle Tower, Ash had more questions to ask. "Okay, if I'm not a bad trainer like you said then how come I have been losing lately to people who are equal to my level of experience?"

"Well… that is a good question Ash and not many people would be able to give you the right answer. It is because of your lack of confidence in yourself."

Ash took on a confused look not understanding why that would matter in battle. "Can you explain a bit more?"

"You have faith in your Pokémon right?" Ash nodded. "But you don't have faith in yourself. I heard you during our battle. You kept taking all the blame for every little thing that went wrong Ash.  
When a Pokémon becomes close to a trainer, a bond is formed between the two. Pokémon rely not only for the trainer to give the orders and to have faith in them but for the trainer to have faith in themselves. You need to have resolve in your actions; if you lack that then the Pokémon will start to lose their resolve too, you see? Just like what happened during Buizel and Infernape; you started off confident and proud, but as soon as you began to second guess yourself, your Pokémon weakened."

The Pikachu trainer marveled at the insight of these words. "Why is that? Why do Pokémon depend on a trainer's confidence in himself?"

Anabel smiled. "No one knows why exactly, but there has been a bond there for all time whether for good or for evil."

Our hero looked back to where Team Galactic had powerful Pokémon. Jupiter, Mars and other members were confident that they would win, that's why they were able to do very well in battle. "Can I ask you a question Ash?" Anabel spoke. 'Why are you afraid of losing so much?"

Ash hesitated before answering. "Because… I feel like it sets me back from my goals; that I won't be able to get stronger unless I can win." Unexpectedly Anabel burst out laughing. "Hey it's not funny." Ash cried out defiantly.

"Ah, it's not you; it's just that we are more similar that I thought." She let out a small chuckle. "So you're afraid of losing because you're afraid it will set you back? Ash let me tell you something that I had to learn the hard way. Losing is a sure part of Life, and it is a different cycle of growing. If you don't lose then you won't improve, if you don't lose then there is no excitement in life. Take it from the girl who never lost a battle when she was ten."

"Wow, who was that?" Ash eyes widen at the thought of someone never losing at such a young age.

"Me silly." Anabel answered bemused by him. "Due to my… stronger bond with Pokémon, I became a very talented young trainer when I went through the Kanto League."

"Wait, you went through Kanto four years ago?" Ash interrupted.

"Yes, and I never lost a battle. No trainer or Gym leader could defeat me. Because of this I attracted certain attention."

"What kind of attention?" He feared that Team Rocket came after young Anabel.

"Scott." Anabel smiled wistfully. "He came to me looking for talented trainers to enter a program to become a Frontier Brain. I became slightly interested at the thought of becoming like the elite. But once he told me that I had to go under guidance from an actual Frontier Brain, me being the stubborn little girl who never lost and had hardly any human contact said I didn't need anyone to teach me how to be good. Scott was determined to get me in but I had to learn to be humbled though. So he called in Brandon to battle me."

"You battled Brandon when you were ten?" Ash and Pikachu were in shock. The very thought of them battling Brandon when Ash was ten almost made them sick to their stomachs.

"Yeah, and unsurprisingly I lost. Badly. I was crushed by him like a Groudon stepping on a Caterpie."

* * *

_Flashback_

_On an open field a girl with purple hair clutch her fainted Eevee in her arms. She had shorts, a white shirt and purple jacket on her, but that's not important. What was important were the tears streaming down her face as the man she was battling walked over to her. It was Brandon, only he was four years younger and had little less wrinkles on his face.  
His eyes held no pity for the girl and her tears. Nor did they hold no pride for the overwhelming victory he just had over her. He just listened to the girl who kept apologizing to her Eevee about their lost. Finally he had enough of this and spoke up. "Child, are you really going to let this set you back, a small defeat?" The girl looked up at him with fierce and wet eyes. There was inner strength and defiance in them but also held a desperate grasping to everything he said. "Is defeat that hard on one such as you?" This time the girl spoke._

"_Your one to talk, you could defeat anyone with the power you have." Brandon just rolled his eyes at the girl's ignorance. _

"_Do you think that I was always this strong? Then you are naïve girl! NO! I learned through many battles from both losing and winning. If you do not learn to handle a lost then you shall never know true strength girl! You will never truly know any joys in life; you will never be able to improve your mistakes. And I've seen the look in your eyes; you desire to be strong enough to look after others." The girl avoided his eye now, telling him he was right. "The Battle Frontier does not have time for a person who crumbles at the thought of defeat. Come back when you can conquer it. We're leaving Scott; this was a waste of my time." Brandon called to a slightly thinner Scott who had been watching the scene quietly to leave._

_But as soon as they had their back turned the purple haired girl stood up with her Eevee still in arms. "Then teach me how to accept losing!" She called at Brandon. "If I'm really that naïve then teach me not to be." This halted the two in their tracks._

"_So you really want to learn? Why?" The Pyramid King asked her over his shoulder._

_The small child rubbed the tears off of her cheeks. "It's like you said. I want to be able to look after others."_

_Brandon gave the girl a stern look. "Then can you humble yourself to learn?"_

_The child cringed from the older man's stare but continued. "I can… humble myself. What I mean is… that I can already do it, as you can see with my strong bond to my Pokémon and all… I just need to learn really is to humble myself to … people."_

_Brandon huffed. "If you can admit that then maybe the Battle Frontier can actually teach you something."_

_Scott came up from behind him with a large grin on his face. "Glad you accept her Brandon. So Anabel I'll ask again, do you wish to promote the art of Pokémon battles and become a Frontier Brain?" He offered her his hand._

_I do not need to tell you Anabel's answer._

_End Flashback._

* * *

"Pikaaaa. Chu Pipika!" Pikachu exclaimed after Anabel was done telling her tale.

"Wow… So that's how you came to become a Frontier Brain?" Ash asked wanting to hear more.

"Yeah, but I still had to choose which Frontier Brain I had to spend three months with. Of course I chose Brandon to teach me. Even as a Frontier Brain myself, I have a lot to learn before I'm ready to fight my old teacher again." Anabel answered.

"So is he the reason why you know about the …Voice?"

Anabel thought about it before finally answered his question. "Brandon told me after you received your seventh Frontier symbol. He said to me that your battle style was different from what I dealt with."

"It was?" he asked.

"Only just a little but enough to get someone experienced as Brandon to notice. Then when you battled Paul at Lake Acuity, Brandon asked Paul's brother to report how the battle went for you. From what his brother did tell him, you lost a lot of your fire by then, mostly you relied only on your Pokémon's strength and not with your own. Obviously something changed in you before you went to Sinnoh but after you battled me and it only has gotten worse than after."

"So what does this mean?" Ash asked, now really worried that the voice had changed him so much. "Why do I have this voice in my head?"

"Brandon thinks… he thinks that it is because of having the King of Poke'lantis posses you."

Our hero's jaw dropped hearing this. "How is that so? Didn't Brandon, I dunno, seal that thing up after he defeated him?"

"Yes, he did. But do you honestly think someone can go through being possessed by a being of evil and not be affected by it?"

Ash was about to say yes but then realized that he had been affected by the incident greatly whether he was aware of it or not. "No. Not really."

"The voice you have Ash, is a psychological rebound from the incident. All the negativity you felt for yourself and the very, very different views of Paul and Hunter J accumulated to what you now know as the voice. Tell me, how long has it been in your head?"

She watched him narrowed his eyes thinking back to when it first happened. "I didn't start hearing an actual voice until after my first battle with Paul during when Hunter J first attacked. But I remember a …depressing feeling inside if me when I battled Brandon for the second time. I never thought it would have affective me like this." He placed a hand over his heart and turned away. "I never really thought about it like that, nor did I ever thought something was wrong with me, it just grew on to me to the point that I thought it was natural. Heh, I guess that's why I never told anyone this. Not even Pikachu."

"Pikaa ka pi Pikapi!"

"Hmmm, sorry buddy."

"Hey," Anabel place a hand on his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up. You've already done enough of that today."

Ash nodded. "By the way, why did Brandon tell you about all of this? Did he tell any of the other Frontier Brains?"

Anabel denied this much to his relief. "No only me. I can sense human emotions to a degree, though I'm not good doing it compared to sensing a Pokémon emotions*. He wanted to give me a heads up if I ever met you again, to see how much it really is affecting you. Plus, Brandon trusts me with these sorts of things."

"Well, I'm glad Brandon is looking out for me. But can I have one more question?" Ash asked when they continued walking.

"Yes?" She noticed his eyes had a downtrodden look about them.

"After today, I don't think I will be able to battle like I use too. I mean that I want to battle like I did when I met you but this voice… its killing me, it always degrades any confidence I receive from anyone. I can't be like I use to until it leaves my head. How do you guy plan on making me a Frontier Brain when I can't even complete a simple battle?"

Anabel placed a figure on her chin. "Well, this is mostly a psychological problem with mythical properties which means that it can't be cured by any modern medicine. One way we can cure it, is to go through months of long and agonizing therapy." Ash couldn't help but cringe, Gary used to tell him scary stories of therapy treatments when they were young. "However that would take too long and would be boring for both you and me. So we will have to go with plan B."

"What's plan B?" Ash asked still a bit worried about it.

Anabel broke into the grin she used when she was about to go into the heat of battle. "Plan B is to be short and be able to be done in less than three months."

"So what is it?"

"We, beat it out of you."

Ash blinked, not sure he heard right. "Excuse me?"

"Pi?"

Anabel smirked. "You heard me. I'll teach you a method that will be sure to cancel out anything that voice has to say, while making you stronger in battle and bonding with your Pokémon."

"Wait! What did you mean by beating it out of me? That doesn't sound too good." This really wasn't sounding too good.

Anabel just laughed at his behavior though. "Don't worry Ash, nothing bad will happen to you alright?" This seemed to make him calm down though he took on a concerned look on his face.

"Do you really think this will work? I mean this is kind of ridiculous once you think about it." Ash said.

Anabel scoffed and hit him lightly on the arm. "It will only work if you believe in yourself, and your Pokémon." She took his hand and held it up. "Ash. I don't know if it means anything to you, but I will be here for you and Pikachu the entire time alright?"

It was a simple oath, but it held deep meaning. Ash took one look in Anabel's purple eyes, then something clicked in his mind. She was no longer just his friend; she was his equal. Not a rival, an enemy, an elder or a good friend, but someone who would watch his back at all times because she can. With the best grin he felt on his face all day, knowing Pikachu would support his actions and with a promise to improve, Ash clenched Anabel's hand in a firm grip and said. "This means a lot. Anabel, thank you."

End of Chapter 9

* * *

**Whew. This was a long chapter. Now to answer the stars**

***1 Anabel knows about hunter J and Paul because Brandon told her**

***2 Anabel only guessed about Team Galactic**

***3 This is an insight to Anabel's past**

***4 Pokémon emotions are simpler than Human emotions; Anabel can only scrap the top of basic emotions when it comes to humans**

**NOW WE GET TO SEE ASH GET HIS BUTT HUMORLY KICKED AND FOR HIM TO START KICKING BUTT!**

**Fun Fact: KaChu Pika is Pikachu talk for Anabel's name. Which sounds a bit like her Japanese name: Lila.**

**But I really hoped you guys enjoyed it and I know I was bordering on Emo Ash but think about it. How would you feel if your very resolve was breaking down in front of your eyes. My original draft for this chapter was a lot sappier, but I threw it away after feeling like I just read Twilight. **

**I hope the battle scene went well, let me tell you I got depressed writing it with Ash being berated by the voice. But next chapter we are going to crush it. And there will soon to be more battles coming up.**

**Oh and the Poll on the Author's page is closed.  
The point of the poll was to see what stories would be the best to write, but what I didn't tell you were all the elements that tied into making a story.  
So in terms of time, knowledge, flexibility and which archive needs it more,  
the winner is : Renegade of Keyblades. **

**I will be writing on it soon as well as chapter 10.**

**Please Review after the chapter and tell me what you think, plus thanks for voting.**

**Remember kids, Constructive Criticism is cool, Flaming is not**

**P.s. Luxray is beast.**


	10. Fight with them, Fight like them

**Hellooooooooooooo READERSSSSSSS! Let us celebrate because this is chapter 10 man! For everyone who's supported the story thus far, give yourself a pat on the back.  
I am on fire! And it is burning out. Oh well, possibly updates will be slower but on the good news I got the first chapter of 'Renegade of Keyblades' up so after this story go over to it and enjoy yourselves to a least a novice quality Kingdom Hearts Fanfic. Seriously I have searched ages on that archive and I can hardly find a decent story on it.  
But on side note here's what's coming up on today's chapter:**

**Ash is still having a bit of confidence problems but since he now knows what it is, he can fight against the voice better, now he is going to learn the method on improving not only his Pokémon but himself as well. Which I have to say is a method that is familiar and I have often wondered why he didn't use this more often. Plus Anabel is slowly becoming a pillar of strength and support for the boy, which is kind of a formula that I have to actually make their relationship seem like a possible event. As from last chapter Anabel is now Ash's equal, which was the first step, now he's has to depend on her and learn from her which is the second step to… I'll let you figure that on your own.**

**And I hoped you all enjoyed a good 4****th**** of July people in America.**

**Warning this chapter contained contains filler. But please enjoy it anyway.**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

**X**

'From One side to Another'

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 10

Fight with them, Fight like them

(Week 1 of the initiation)

Ash woke from his slumber and stared at the ceiling from his bed. It had been five days since his break down and his talk with the Salon Maiden. Anabel actually wanted to start with the training right away but then had a bombardment of paper work thus halting her before she got started. From sunrise to sunset, the Salon Maiden worked in her office on the top floor in order to get done as soon as possible. However this didn't stop Anabel from teaching our hero some basics of the Battle Frontier. So far he's learned how to fill out paperwork , how to look over a battle faculty and the PROPER way to handle phone calls.  
Needless to say, Anabel was a great teacher. She was patient with him when he goofed up, explained complex subjects when he needed help and encouraged him when the voice or his own wavering self esteem started to beat him down.  
He was a bit tired of waiting around though. Both he and Pikachu were surprised that he could last this long without going nuts. But yesterday night, Anabel was finally done with the very last piece of paper to fill out. Now today was the day that she will show him how to beat the voice and to help not only of his Pokémon to get stronger but also he himself.

With a sigh Ash helped himself out of bed and woke Pikachu up as he got dressed. He finished when Pikachu helped himself of his trainers shoulder. The kitchen was empty differing from the normal scene of Pokémon eating their breakfast and Anabel watching over from the counter they had grown use to. This told the two that they were already out and about.

"Pika-pipi Ka Pi." Ash stared from his breakfast to see what Pikachu was going on about. The electric type was excitingly pointing towards the window. When Ash peered outside, he saw Anabel talking to a very tall Pokémon in front of her. It looked like they were in a deep discussion about something important.

"Do you want to see what they're up to buddy?" He asked Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon nodded in affirmation.  
"Pi-pika Ka-Chu Pika." They both headed out to meet them.

Closer inspection showed that Anabel was back in her normal Frontier Brain gear.  
Now that they were nearer to Anabel they could see who the Pokémon was. It was covered in bright red feathers that seem to spark with fire and yellow feathers layering its feet. White feathers covered it head and shoulders covering it like a jacket. The arms were muscled and its sharp beak grizzled and cracked signifying old age. The Pokémon turned his razor eyes at the two. "Blaziken." He alerted Anabel to their presence.

"Oh, Ash, good morning, did you sleep well?" Anabel turned to the duo with a smile.

"Um… yeah I did. Thanks for asking Anabel. So who's this?" Ash pointed to the blaziken ignoring the funny feeling that had been coming more often this week.

"Blazzi KenBlaze!" The Blaziken interrupted putting a protective arm in front of her. Ash stepped back a bit obviously intimidated by the larger then average Blaziken.

"It's alright, they're the ones I was talking about." She soothed the Blaze Pokémon. "Ash and Pikachu, it is my pleasure to introduce to Rook the Blaziken*." She gestured to the Pokémon with flair.

Ash looked to Pikachu for a moment. "Rook?" He asked her. He never thought Anabel would be one who nicknamed name a Pokémon.

"I didn't name him." She said as if she read his thoughts. "It's not uncommon for an ol- elderly Pokémon to name themselves while their still wild*."

"Oh I didn't know that." Ash scratched his head. He felt a little ignorant now.

Anabel smiled. "Don't worry Ash. Even Pokémon Professors do not know this; Rook is the one who told me and you know that most people can't communicate on that level with Pokémon." This made our hero feel better but now he had to ask about training

"So what about the training? You said we would start today." He stared at her as she started to walk past him.

"Indeed I did. Would you follow me please?" Ash, Pikachu and Blaziken walked behind Anabel as she led them deeper and deeper in the forest. Soon the overgrowth was so thick that it blackened the entire ground.

"Uhhh… Anabel, not to be judgmental but don't you think that this is kind of… dangerous to be walking this deep in a forest without a path?" Ash looked around, strange Pokémon sounds were echoing throughout the woods but it was so dark that you couldn't see them.

"Don't worry Ash. I know where I am going; just keep following me." And just when she said that light started to burst through the branches. A few more steps, the trees cleared out completely. The scenery showed a huge open meadow with a clear pound shimmering in the sunlight. Anabel stepped out further in the meadow and turned around to face them. "Gentlemen, I present you to my personal battle ground. Hear I learn how to focus myself to be a better trainer and help my Pokémon to learn about tapping into their inner selves."

Ash and Pikachu's eyes widen at her speech, they could feel the excitement rising in them with every word.

Anabel continued. "It is here that my Pokémon and I learn to work together with nature and our surroundings to bond further than any trainer we will fight."

This is it. This was where Pikachu and he could finally get pass his handicap. They will now learn Anabel's secret to strength and power. It was now the time to—

"And now to start us off, you will be fighting Blaziken Ash."

…Wait…

What?

"Pi?"

"WHAT?" Ash wasn't sure he was hearing right. Anabel wanted HIM to fight a Pokémon? He stared at Rook the Blaziken, who was staring at Ash with the face that could only be described as 'This is going to hurt you'.

Anabel smirked a bit. It was really fun to see his expressions. "Yeah." Was all she said.

"But… but… but WHY?" Ash eyes were bulging out of his sockets. "I'm not a Pokémon! I can't fight a Pokémon!"

"But you need to. You need to learn how they fight. Haven't you ever personally trained with a Pokémon just using yourself?"

This stopped Ash in his tracks making him think back to the time he battled Miki and her skarmory with his cyndaquil; on how she shared her tale on personally training her duel steel/flying type and he applying the same thing to help Cyndaquil learn to control his fire type moves. The results were awesome; Cyndaquil learned so much in just one day!

"Yeah… I did once." He said.

Now she had him. "And let me guess, it was a huge improvement." Ash shifted his poster telling her all that she needed to know. "I've been doing the same all last year Ash. That's how I have been getting so strong and it's given me so much insight to what a Pokémon is. Now it's your turn to learn, I know you can do this."

"But the ability to—"He was interrupted when Anabel threw a small object at his direction, he managed to catch it. He saw it was a small gold coin.

"You know what that is, don't you?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's the Ability Symbol. But I don't understand, I've already have one." Ash stared at it in confusion.

"I know that silly. But do you know why I give that out to trainers?" Ash and Pikachu both shook their heads. "It's because I use my abilities to help out trainers learn their ability. To test them on how they handle the battle field. Now I'm going to use the same thing to help you get that fighting spirit back."

Ash looked at Pikachu before saying. "Oh… I think I get it now. But I still don't get why I have to fight Blaziken."

"Blazi!" Rook shook his fist at him.

"I mean Rook." He corrected his mistake.

"That's because you need to get use to fighting a Pokémon. Rook here can teach a human that without harming them… much." She added on hesitantly "But first I need to get you in the proper gear." She started to walk off but stopped when Rook cried out.

"Blaziiii!"

"Wait Rook, he can't—"Suddenly Ash felt Rook's fist collide in his stomach; the trainer was thrown back on the ground from its force. Pikachu jumped away from his shoulder in time and stared in horror at his trainer as Anabel instantly went to Ash's side.

"PIKAPI!"

"Rook! Why did you do that?" She began to look over Ash for any sign of anything being broken.

"Blazi-ken ken!"

"What do you mean he's alright?" Then Anabel watched in amazement as Ash got up with little effort as though he didn't just receive a punch from a powerful fighting type Pokémon. "Ash, stay down, you might have something broken."

Ash gave her a pained and confused look. "What are you talking about? I'm fine, it just hurts a bit."

"What? I don't understand how—"Rook placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Blaziken kan Ziken." This seemed to make her calm down some.

"You sure?"

"Blaiken."

"…Alright."

"Uhmm, is there something I'm missing here?" Ash stared at the two in confusion. He was now realizing how awkward it was to be in a discussion he didn't understand.

"Pika? Pi Pikachu Chu Pikapi?" Pikachu asked.

"Don't worry about it Ash and Pikachu just something I need to figure out.*" Anabel said, than she beckoned Rook to step in front of Ash. "Alright now Rook here is going to show you the basics. I need to run to the Battle Tower to get things settled."

Despite of the situation he was in Ash grinned. It was nice that she was looking after for him. "Alright. Come back soon, okay?""

"Just try not to get yourself killed okay?" With that she left out to the woods and Room called to his attention.

"Blazi blaziken blaze!" Rook tried to communicate with the human trainer the best he could. The Pokémon pointed to his fist and back to Ash, our hero thought hard about the message.

"You're going to try to hit me right and you want me to dodge right?" He asked the Blaziken. The Pokémon nodded and then got into fighting stance. Ash, awkwardly, did the same. "Like this?"

For an answer he got nailed in the cheek and once again thrown down to the ground.

"Pikachu…" The electric type sighed this was going to be a long, long day.

X

Ash eventually got the hang of learning to dodge when Rook threw a punch at him. However this didn't make much of a difference because he still got hit by the Blaze Pokémon. It took another hour for him to dodge the first attack than throw a fist back. Then again it was blocked by Rook's arms and he got hit again. Pikachu gave encouragement to his trainer. Often zapping Ash when he got slightly dreary and nuzzling him when the boy thought down on himself.

But little did the duo know that this exercise Anabel set up for them had alternative effect. The more Ash got into the fight the more he felt, well, confident better in himself than he had previously. And when the voice tried to get in the way, feeling the actual rush of battle and the burning freedom that came with it helped him overcome it. Slowly he was re-learning what it was like to enjoy battles again.

"Alright let's go again!" Ash charged again at Rook; the fire type just smiled and just side-stepped the attack, sending Ash going face down to the grass.

"Pika Pika-pi-chu Pikapi." Pikachu giggled at his trainer antics. It didn't take the electric type long to figure out what the Salon Maiden was trying to do with this. All it took was the look of blissful enjoyment on Ash's face to tell Pikachu that this would help him in furthering himself in his own self esteem.  
"Pikapi! Pika chu-chu ka!" Pikachu encouraged his trainer to get up and try again. Ash rose to his feet without much of a problem and got ready to attack Rook again. But then Rook raised his hand to stop him.

"Hey, what's going on Rook?" Ash asked walking up to the fire-type with Pikachu hoping up on his shoulder. Rook pointed to the forest clearing with his thump appendage.

"Blazi blaze kan." Just when he said it out came Anabel with Metagross in tow. Ash looked at them for a bit and then noticed that a box was right behind them floating by the blue glow of psychic.

"Hey… Anabel. What is with the floating box?" Ash asked when he came up to her.

"You'll know soon enough." She said to him before turning to her steel type. "Metagross would you set those down now please?"

"Meta." Metagross replied cheerfully. With careful thought, the box landed with a soft 'thud'.

"Thank you my friend." Anabel called him back to his Poke'ball and then went to the box. "Well do you two not want to see what's inside it?" She asked Ash and Pikachu.

"Oh right." They reached out to open the lid and revealed the contents to be— "Poke'balls?" Ash asked confused. "Uhmm, Anabel, why do we need a bunch of Poke'balls; are we going to catch something?"

The Salon Maiden took one out of the package. "Oh these are not empty Poke'balls Ash. They have Pokémon in them; yours to be exact and I am excited that you have so many friends to meet."

Ash and Pikachu's eyes widen. "Hey, how did you get those?"

"I called Professor Oak to make the transfer. As your Battle Frontier teacher, I have the authorization to do that. " She smirked.

"You at least could have told me." Ash voiced sounding a little disappointed.

Anabel's smirked faded. "I kind of wanted to make it a surprise. I didn't mean to offend you." She said sincerely.

Ash accepted that with good grace and took the Poke'ball from her hand. "I understand. Well let's see everybody." He threw the capsule device. "Come out!"

A flash of white light revealed a small crustacean Pokémon with oversized claws. "Cor Corphish!" He cried with excitement of being let out. The Ruffian Pokémon then sensed something behind him and turned around to his trainer first. "Cor Cor!" The crayfish like Pokémon greeted his trainer by placing his claws in his hands.

"Hey Corphish buddy. Good to see you again." Pikachu jumped down from Ash's shoulder to say hello to his Hoenn friend.

"Pika Pipichu! Pi ka Pi-chu."

"Corrr phish! Phish!" Then Corphish realized that there was someone else there too. He turned around to see Anabel.

"Hello Corphish, remember me?" She greeted him.

"CORPHISH COR!" The water type squealed in delight and then scrambled up Anabel's back and on to her head while making happy sounds. Anabel laughed at this and Rook narrowed his eyes at the Water type's antics.

"I'll take that as a yes." She giggled and took him of her head to pet him.

Meanwhile Ash stared at the sight with an odd thought. Most girls would have cringed on having a large crustacean Pokémon walking all over there back with pointy legs. Anabel, however made it seem like it was natural to her. Then it occurred to Ash that Anabel didn't have much of a preference of Pokémon like most girls he met had.  
Misty preferred water-types. May liked Pokémon that were cute and had lucky moves. And Dawn also liked Pokémon that were cute and small.  
Anabel didn't have any preference for a Pokémon, they just had to be… well Pokémon. And he liked that, particularly, for some reason, in a girl.

"Ash what are you staring at?" Anabel asked amusingly while stuggling to hold the water type. Corphish was being overly excited at Anabel's presence and continued to scramble over her arms and back. She was almost blushing at his gaze and decided to make him stop by teasing him about it.

Ash for some unknown reason had his face heat up and felt the funny feeling again. "Oh I didn't notice." He then remembered the box full of his Poke'balls. "Do you think we should get the rest out?"

Anabel laughed a bit when Corphish started to nibble of her collar. "Alright, but (hey stop that) –do you think (hehe) that you could get Corphish off of me?"

"Oh right. Come get off of Anabel Corphish. You can visit her later." You could see the disappointment in the water type's eyes as he grudgingly got off the Salon Maiden.  
Now that she was free from her friendly captor, Anabel headed to the box and took some Poke'balls and begun to release the creatures inside. Ash joined her after releasing his Sinnoh team and with their combined effort Ash's Pokémon were out and about looking around the meadow and greeting their trainer and Pikachu.

They were so busy with the Pokémon that they almost didn't hear Anabel when she called out to them. "Hey everyone! Can you all gather together?" It was almost like a spell was cast over our hero's Pokémon (minus Rook who right behind Anabel) and they gathered behind Ash and Pikachu without so much as a peep. This obviously wigged Ash out and when he looked at the Frontier Brain he spotted a small camera in her hand that he recognized from her other outfit.  
"Hope you don't mind that I take a small photo of you and your Pokémon?" She asked.

"Ah,.. sure. No problem, right guys?" Ash asked his Pokémon. The loud chorus of agreement came from behind him. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Pi Ka."

"Alright, now smile!" Anabel called out. As any Pokémon could, they showed their grins to the camera while surrounding their smiling trainer and his starter.

X

After the photo the Pokémon were still around each other, the only difference being Ash, Pikachu, Rook and Anabel being in the front. Ash gave an uncertain look towards her before turning to his team. "Well guys… I'm sure you're wondering why you are here… Well I—" Anabel held up a hand, silencing him. She also made another mental note to teach him how to be ready for a speech.

'_I need to get a pager to keep track of all of them.'_ She thought with a sigh. "I'll take over from here." She said to him before turning to the crowd of Pokémon. "All of Ash's Pokémon. listen. Your trainer, Ash, is now learning from to be a Battle Frontier Brain by me. And he needs all the help he can get. (Hey!) He is now learning a new way of training to help of you all, and that involves all of you to give him your support!" Loud cheers came from the Pokémon. "Ash will be training with you personally, that means that he will take your attacks, handle your tackles and be your opponent in the fight. Can you do that for him?" a louder cheer came from them. _  
'I know this might be cruel, but I really want to see his face.' _Anabel thought with a smirk. "Now go beat him up!"With this said, Ash's eyes widen when the Pokémon with much enthusiasm charged towards their trainer.

Soon enough Ash was being bombarded by them all and Anabel was high fiving Rook. When he did get out of the mess, Ash marched up to Anabel with anger. "Why did you do that?" He yelled. Anabel laughed at his face; her mission a success.

"To get them in the mood." She fibbed. "Now which one do you want to start with?"

They talked about which Pokémon Ash should start begin to battle. The Pallet town trainer said he should begin with Pikachu as the electric type would be careful about harming him too much. Anabel thought about it, but then said that wouldn't be a good idea. Pikachu is a very fast and powerful Pokémon (Pikachu thanked her for that), Ash needed to work on a Pokémon that still needed work and was big enough to handle it. So they decided on Bayleef, who agreed with Anabel to be careful around her 'Precious Trainer'.

Ash and Bayleaf started off simple such as dodging, tackling and few Vine Whips and Razor Leaves here and there. Anabel observed the two with a smile on her face. Ash was looking like he was having so much fun as he fought with his Pokémon and he was lasting much longer than when she first started out, once the trainer got the hang of it, other Pokémon begun to join in as well.

"Hey Ash!" Anabel called for him. Ash, who was currently dodging Quilava's Flame Wheels, stopped.

"What is it?" He yelled out catching his breath. Though he just started a few hours ago, already he could see improvement in their moves and the voice wasn't being a hindrance like it normally was.

"Do you mind if my Pokémon and I join in?"

"Yeah, sure! We'll love to meet your Pokémon." He watched her smile and closed her eyes for a while. "Aren't you going to call them?" he asked.

"I already did.*" She said opening her eyes. Just then the trees rustled behind her and out came all her Pokémon. Espeon, Alakazam, Cherim, Beautifly, Drifloon, Dratini, Scizor, and Luxray. Anabel then released Metagross to join them. The Pokémon , including Rook didn't need orders to know what they needed to do next. They immediately went to work with Ash's Pokémon with the training. Of course they weren't going full out but enough to work each other in to a sweat.  
When it was time to take a break Anabel offered to go and get them some Pecha Berry Juice while Ash looked over the Pokémon. Ash himself was a little flattered by the offer, normally the girls he traveled with would have made him get the juice. "Umm thanks Anabel!" He watched her smile and then headed off to the trees. He also observed Scizor and Rook follow after her but his attention was turned elsewhere when Gible began to chew on Luxray's mane. "Gible. GIBLE! THAT IS NOT EDIABLE!"

"LUUUUUUUXXXXXX!"

X

_Switching to Pokémon Translations…_

"My lady Wait Up!" Anabel halted when she heard Rooks grizzled voice. She turned around to see her two eldest Pokémon following her.

"What's wrong?" She asked, it a bit unusual to see the two together, especially with their fierce rivalry for being the strongest.

The two caught up with her and bowed slightly. "It is nothing much." Scizor said. "Not with this hot head at least."

"Hot Head! You have nerve to talk young one!" Rook shook his fist at the bug type. Before he could say anything else though Anabel interrupted.

"What's nothing much?" Anabel was curious to what they could be concerned about.

The two stopped there quarrel and the blaziken spoke first. "It concerns the young Human in your care. Do you think that teaching him how to fight will be enough to get that curse from his head?"

She sighed. "Well… it is not exactly common for someone to have a negative second voice caused by a magical evil king but battling seems to work. Brandon was able to expel the King of Poke'Lantis by defeating Ash, so I'll follow the same method. The only difference is that Ash had to do it himself." Anabel explained even though she herself didn't understand it.

"We understand trainer. Is there anything we can do to help maybe? " Scizor asked.

"No it is alright. I'll let you know if anything comes up." They reach outside the woods. "But what do you think of him though? He's different from the normal type of trainers."

Rook huffed. "I admit, he is better than the average. But he reminds me of a young torchic I taught when I was still wild. The Pokémon was talented and had potential, but the young one was very inconsistent and still unseasoned. The boy is the same. If you can remind him of some of his past battles, you could help him further to triumph his opponents in battle, it what I taught the torchic."

Anabel thought about this. "That's not a bad idea honestly."

X

For the next few days Ash kept battling and training with his Pokémon. Sometimes he had to fight against the Salons Maiden's Pokémon as well. Our hero managed to get bruises, scratches, light burns and sore muscles; he felt great. He discovered new ways to battle. One involved using each of his Pokémon's body size to emphasize their attacks and another one was to use close combat counter shields for physical attacks. Anabel even offered to pair up with him against the Pokémon. Much to Ash's surprise Anabel was a good fighter, this was proven further when he went up against her and soon found himself on the ground with his arm twisted painfully behind his back. That day Ash and his Pokémon swore he would never ever get on her bad side, ever.

It was one lazy afternoon when Ash held a huge grin on his face with Pikachu on his shoulder looking equally proud. Anabel notice this. "You two look like you just one a Pokémon league. What's going on?"

The trainer pointed his thumb towards his chest. "I finally perfected the two new strategies just now." He declared proudly.

"Well congrats Ash. I'm impressed that you did it so quickly." Of course, he had a lot of help from the Frontier Brain, but she didn't want to ruin the moment.

Ash noticed this and quickly fixed his mistake. "Well you helped out a lot Anabel. It would have taken much longer if it hadn't been for you."  
Though Anabel was getting better at handling Ash's compliments, there was still a ghost of a blush that peeped on her face.

"Thanks Ash but do not forget you're the one who thought it on your own on the second day. That itself is impressive."

"Thanks. I can't wait to try these out against my next battle!"

"Then why don't you try it now my dear lad!" A voice came from behind them.  
Then two trainers turned around to a figure wearing a black business suit, with giant white buttons. His rouge hair was done oddly in appendages sticking out against his face but lacked the ones on top of his head.

"Tucker?"

End of Chapter 10

X

**Okay, short chapter. Please don't hate me. I have been trying to think of ways to extend my chapters more, but when I do that I usually wind up with pointless dialogue. Now for the stars.**

***1 **_**That little detail about old wild Pokémon naming themselves is just something I made up. I thought it would be interesting honestly; kind of makes since though, an elderly Pokémon that's seen it all, making himself different from the others of his kind. Also Rook will be the Pokémon mentor for Ash and sometimes Anabel.**_

_***2 I am 95% sure that I am not the only who thinks Ash has some type of special ability to stand attacks, whether they are a physical force or a actual Pokémon moves. Seriously, that boy has tough skin and bone structure. Which is also going to be part of the plot latter on.**_

_***3 I know Anabel claims that she has only a empathetic ability, but one can't help but think that it is something much, much more. No, she is not a psychic who can move things with her mind and has telepathy. It's more of a power of heart than of mind. Cheesy I know.**_

**Some thoughts about this chapter, Ash is slowly becoming a more mature individual, plus he is slowly… very slowly starting to feel something more for Anabel. And his training is suppose to make him more of a independent individual.**

**Yayyy! The Battle Dome Ace is hear. Next chapter Ash vs Tucker! Will Ash be able to triumph over the voice this time? Tune in!**

**I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the reviews.  
Please review and go check up on Renegade of Keyblades!**


	11. ExtravagantShipping

**Hello my dear readers, Blue-ThaIn-True here! Oops! Hehe wrong name.**

**Thank you so much for sticking with me for this long and to chapter 11 no less! Thank you for putting up with my mistakes, incorrect spelling, and horrible grammar. It really makes my day seeing that you are enjoying this story.**

**This chapter will contain the first ever ExtravangantShipping! (Or if that's taken, FancyShipping) It Kind of a Crack pairing as the pairing is TuckerXFantina… yeah… never going to see those people again in the anime but you know what it could happen, they have similar personalities.**

**This will also have a battle not a major one but hopefully decent… plus more Shy AbilityShipping. Yaayysss. **

**I really hope you enjoy this short chapter and please review.  
P.S. I also have chapter 2 of Renegade of Keyblades up, plus a new story as well. Check them up on the author's page once you're done.**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 11

ExtravagantShipping

(Almost week 2 of the initiation)

"Tucker?" Ash and Anabel looked at the figure that just appeared. Tucker the Battle Dome Ace seemed to come out of nowhere startling them both. Ash noticed that he was wearing the same suit that he saw when they were all at Saffron City and had the same expression as always.  
Tucker casually walked up to them observing their Pokémon on the field. "Well Ash, I must say that these are some top notch Pokémon. I would have loved battling them the first time but alas; where are those wonderful Swellow and Corphish of yours?"

Ash and Pikachu were taken aback by Tuckers extravagant behavior. _'Just goes to show that his personality is like he's putting on a performance.'_ "Emmm… they must've wondered off in the forest, but I'm sure they'll be back soon."

"Pikachu." Pikachu confirmed this.

Tucker nodded understanding. "Wonderful thing about Pokémon is that their curiosity never ends. Ah and Anabel how have you been doing dear?"

"I'm fine Tucker as I hope you are but with all due respect, what brings you to my training area?" Anabel said with politeness. Though Tucker maybe her friend, he was still her elder and was to be treated with respect.

"Why I came here to see how your student was doing." He said pointing to Ash. "I was a bit too impatient to see both of your progress until the end of the three months. So I decided, why not now? And it is really wonderful to see you again Anabel, tell me, how did you like the dress I sent you for the Cobalt Port festival?"

Anabel face split into a grin. "It's perfect Tucker. Fits me as always and looks excellent." Tucker also had a small hobby of designing cloths which is one of the many reasons he's famous. Sometimes he would send her a special dress as a sign of brotherly affection.

"That's good, very good. Now are you going to bring Ash and Pikachu over to it? I would love to try my hand at the project again."

"To what?" Ash was a bit annoyed of not knowing what they were talking about. It was like when Anabel went into a deep discussion with a Pokémon. He didn't notice when Anabel silence Tucker and mouthed about talking about it later.

"It's alright Ash, I'll tell you about it when the date is closer." She assured him.

"That's right, trust Anabel, my dear lad. As for why I am here is simple. Ash Ketchum… I Challenge you!" The Dome Ace declared.

Not expecting the declaration Ash shot a look at Anabel. She just nodded her head for his answer. "Alright… uhmmm, I accept your challenge."

"Very good. I see that she has been teaching you the basics of a challenge. It keeps your image up as an experienced as expert. Now let's see if you can handle a challenge from one as well! Call out the Pokémon your using."

'_That's right, as the one being challenged I won't have the advantage to know what my opponent's Pokémon will be.' _Ash turned to Anabel. "Is it alright that we use this as the battle field?"

Anabel cast him a bemused smile. "Of course Ash. There isn't much of a difference between a training field and a Battle field."

"Okay then, let's go Kingler!" He threw his Poke'Ball and out in a white light showed a massive crab Pokémon.  
"Kingleeerrrrr…"

"Remember Ash in a normal battle you have to wait for the referee to announce the match and its conditions." Anabel walked between him and Tucker, with Pikachu in tow. "But I'll let it slide this time."

"Right… Sorry" Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Good call Anabel."

"Pi pi."

"Alright guys, this fight will be a one-on-one battle. The last Pokémon standing wins, keep it clean." She announced.

Tucker enlarged his own Poke'ball. "Excellent, enough for a good battle and short enough for a chat. Show them your domination of the land and sky Salamence!" He unleashed his Pokémon.

"ARRRRRGGHHHH!" Salamence roared unleashing a Flame Thrower. He gave an Intimating glare towards Kingler, but the Pincer Pokémon, just snapped his claws unaffected*.

"Lerrrr…"

'_Dang… most of Kingler's attacks will not be that affective, however… there is that new move I just thought him.'_ But then he remembered something from his previous battle. _'But back when I was fighting Anabel, her Pokémon also had a super effective move that totally demolished Buizel… so I better be careful'_ Ash looked around uncertainly. "Okay… you go first Tucker… those are the rules right?" he asked Anabel.

"Correct, glad to see your paying attention." Anabel laughed.

"Then let the theatrics begin." Tucker declared. "Salamence use Thunder Fang!"

"Arrhaaaaaa!" Lighting started to encircle his teeth and crackled with ferocity. Ash, who developed a keen eye dodging his Pokémon's attacks, noticed this instantly.

"Kingler dodge it and use Crabhammer!"  
"King kingler!"

Using its spindly legs, the water-type leapt aside with ease. When it was certain that it dodged the attack, it slammed its giant glowing claw against the dragons head. But surprise etched its face when Salamence shrugged off the attack with like it was nothing. Panicking, Ash ordered another Crabhammer.

"Not so fast, Salamence Fly!" Tucker raised his hand at the same time Salamence rose from the ground flapping his wings. The force from it sent Kingler back on his hindquarters. "Dive straight towards Kingler my divine beast!"

At an alarming speed, the Dragon Pokémon flew straight at Kingler. Meanwhile the crab-like Pokémon struggled to get back up on its feet before the hit. "Kingler roll to the side using the weight of your big claw!" Ash commanded as a last resort. With a grunt, Kingler swung its larger scissor over to the side making it avoid Salamence's attack. But unfortunately it was not fast enough to avoid it completely; Kingler's smaller claw was damaged in the process.  
"Kingler! Are you all right?"

"King King!" it replied not at all hindered by the small wound.

'_**Here we go again.' **_Came a familiar voice.

Ash's eyes widen. _'Oh no not you again! Get out of my head! This is my battle and you're not interfering!' _"Kingler! Use Ice Beam to knock Salamence out of the sky!"  
Frozen energy gathered in front in of Kingler's mouth at the command of his trainer.

"King…..Ler-KING!" He unleashed the attack straight into Salamence's chest. The dragon-type cringed at the super-effective attack. He had no choice but to lower himself to soothe the pain. Ash decided to use this to his advantage. "Use Crabhammer again!"

"Salamence fly again!" Tucker called out before Kingler managed to attack.

The Pallet Town trainer gritted his teeth at the tactics. He now figured out Tuckers game plan. "You use close physical attacks and use fly to get away from your opponent before they can retaliate don't you?" Ash asked his opponent.

Tucker laughed well naturally. "It is as Spencer said, you do catch on fast. Indeed, Salamence, the lord of land and sky, using tactics utilizing his superior aerial vantage point combined with his awesome might in close combat makes my Pokémon neigh impossible to harm. Can you, Ash Ketchum, find a way out of this predicament?"

'_**No you can't'  
**__'I said get out!"_

"Now Salamence show them your Dragon Claw!"

"Kingler counter with Crabhammer!" The dragon type claws glowed and slashed down towards Kingler, but was blocked by said Pokémon's giant pincer. The two opposing forces struggled to overcome one another that is until Salamence gave more push to his attack and sent the water type hurling back at the feet of its trainer.  
Ash stared wide eyed at his damaged Pokémon begging it not to give up. "Please Kingler! You got to get up!"

'_**Call the battle in. You can't hope to win this. Honestly you should have learned this with that girl.'**_

Ash struggled to keep his focus on the battle. But the voice was so overwhelming, his self esteem began to waver. _'Maybe… I should…'_

'_**That's right give up. Give up, your ability is insignificant.' **_The voice chortled cruelly in his mind.

'_My… ability…'_

"C'mon Ash! You can do this!"

"Pikachu Pikapi Chu!"

Ash looked towards the voices; Anabel who held Pikachu in her arms. The Salon Maiden was staring at him with determination and faith. Her eyes showed strength and perseverance. And Pikachu was smiling at him, obviously cheering him on. Then Ash remembered what Anabel said to him. That he needed to trust himself, his Pokémon were depending on him, Pikachu was depending on him, and… Anabel was depending on him too.  
They have all done so much for him, especially Anabel.

He… he could not… WOULD not let them down.

"Kingler Get back out there! We're not finished yet!" Ash ordered his Pokémon. Feeling its trainer's dependence for it to continue, with a grunt Kingler heaved itself up, shaking off any pain it might have felt earlier.  
"KINGLER!" It practically roared.

"Alright!" Ash cried out, a feral grin forming on his face. He could feel the fire of the battle swelling inside of him. It was the same heat he felt when fighting his Pokémon.

Tucker noticed his behavior change and smiled himself. Now it was time to take things up a notch. "Seems like things are heating up, let me help. Salamence use Fly and then use Flame Thrower on the ground!"  
Flames erupted from the dragon's mouth igniting the ground on contact. The fire roared with a life on its own; Kingler stepped back not wishing to be caught by the snapping embers.

Ash viewed the battle scene quickly and thought on how to get Salamence back on the ground. _'With the fire and Salamence up high in the air, Kingler can't use most of his attacks. Plus once that fire goes out, Salamence will attack and Kingler doesn't have enough strength to fend off any more. I have to hit hard now and somehow slow Tucker's Pokémon down as well.'_ He viewed Salamence for any sign of weakness. _'Where…'_ the sound of the dragon type's wings was deafening. _'Where… That's it!' _Ash figured out where he was going to attack."Kingler use Ice Beam and aim for Salamence's wing joints!"

"King… Ler King!" The Ice beam split into two different paths, each hitting the section on where the wing connected to the dragon's body.

"Raaaaaaahhhhh!" Salamence cried out in pain and crashed down in the ground. The landing sent dirt up in the air and put out the flames. Salamence struggled to get his body up while flapping his wings to get the ice off, but there was no avail. The ice wouldn't budge and the wings were frozen stiff.

Despite of the turn of events, Tucker just continued to smile. This wouldn't stop him, far from it. "Salamence use a light Flame Thrower to thaw out your wings!"

"Oh no you don't! Kingler, use Ice Beam on your large claw, get up close and then use Crabhammer."

Each Pokémon did as they were told; racing against the clock to see which one could get the upper hand first. Salamence sent out a steady small stream of fire on each wing joint, sacrificed a bit of his health to stand strong in the sky again. Kingler froze its own claw and ran as fast as its spiny legs could carry it.

Anabel stare in amazement at the method Ash just pulled. _'He made his own version of an Ice Punch.'_ She smiled. _'Impressive. I would have not have thought of that.'_

Salamence managed to thaw out his wings and immediately started to flap them to gain air. Ash thought quickly on what could happen next. _'As soon as Salamence gets up in the air then Kingler won't have another chance to get him back down or handle another attack again.' _There was only one more thing he could do. "Kingler jump!"

"KING!" With more power then thought possible, Kingler leaped high in the air right over the dragon type. Then it slammed down its ice coated claw right on Salamence's head; the dragon type went down hard sending up dirt once again.  
When the dust cleared the results showed through.

"Salamence is no longer able to battle! The victor is Ash Ketchum!" Anabel declared; Salamence was lying on the ground knocked out and Kingler stood over him, proud.

"Yes!" Ash said quietly to himself. It was not polite to brag out loud."Good job Kingler!" He said to the Poke'ball when he called his water type back.  
Tucker just reached for the Poke'ball and called his friend back for a good a long rest. As he walked over to Ash a wide grin split across his face.

"Well I must say Ash that was a good battle. I glad to see that you're back in top form!" He shook the young trainer's hand.

Ash looked at him a bit concerned. "What do you mean top form?" Did he mean the degrading voice?

"Ha ha. Ash to a trainer with as much experience as me it is easy to spot out when someone is going through a rough time. But I see Anabel has been doing a great job fixing you back up! I was certainly impressed by that Ice Crabhammer! Tell me how did you come up with something like that?"

"Oh well, I've done stuff like that before. It started back in Sinnoh when I was battling Fantina and –"

"Wait! Fantina, the designers and Ghost type Specialist?" Tucker interrupted.

"Yeah…" Where was he going with this?

Tucker literally leaped for joy hearing this. "That means her dreams did come true! I am so proud of her!" Tears were streaming down his face as he spoke.

"You know her?" Ash asked.

"Know her? Lad we were—"Anabel interrupted him.

"Tucker before you go into story mode, why don't you say we go to my place and get a nice hot cup of tea? She suggested handing Ash back his Pikachu.

"Of course, Anabel. Thank you for being so considerate."

"Sure tea sounds good."

"Pika!"

* * *

Back in Anabel's home, the three humans settled themselves down on the main dining room table. All of them had steaming hot cups of tea, while Pikachu, who was on the table, held a small little platter for him.

"So what were you saying about you and Fantina Tucker?" Ash asked.

Tucker took a sip of tea before answering. "Ah, Fantina and I came from the same town lad. In fact I hail from Sinnoh itself, as you saw, it is a beautiful land. In the town where we grew up Fantina, my lad, Fantina was the most beautiful, stunning and talented girl around. I however was a small and humble boy with a talent for clothing and Pokémon flair. Because of this I was often picked on by the more 'sporty' boys and this made me feel quiet insignificant."

"So what happed?" Anabel asked.

"Well, Fantina's family and my family were going to the same bouquet that was held nearby at a local city. I knew this was my big chance to get her attention. But thanks to my low-self esteem, I thought she wouldn't like my true self, so I adapted a false personality like most boys had."

"And then?" Ash's voice held a bit of laughter in it. He knew the next part could not have a pretty scene.

"She saw right through it when we met. In fact she was so appalled by it that she had her Drifloon use Thunder Shock on me to teach me to never do it again. Turns out that she had been admiring me as I had her, in fact she loved what I could do with Pokémon moves and she had been wanting to become friends with me for a long time but she was always so busy.  
After that we became fast friends, even going to the same Pokémon fashion school together in our teen years. Soon we got into a relationship and that… was the most beautiful time of my life." He sighed wistfully

"So why aren't you with her?" Anabel felt a little sad for Tucker. He sounded so lonely right now.

"Alas… our goals were different. When we were young adults, she wanted to work on Pokémon Fashion more and I wanted to see more of the world and see the tactic of all sorts of trainers. That was the last time I ever saw her…" He sighed dramatically (or just Tuckerly).

"Pika chu…"

"That's… kinda sad…" Ash didn't know what else to say. It was sad… but wasn't romance supposed to be like… forever and ever and happy and stuff?

"Yes, but I will never regret that time I spent with her nor will anyone else ever replace her. I tell you Ash, that you'll never regret a relationship or someone who loves you for who you are." With that said he gave Anabel a wink.

Anabel felt her face flush up a bit, out of embarrassment and annoyance. "Ash and Pikachu, will you excuse Tucker and I for a moment?"

The duo blinked, confused on why she wanted to leave. "Uhmm sure?"

"Thank you." She grabbed Tucker by the arm and led him out the door.  
Once outside, she began to glare at him. "Why did you do that? "

"Whatever are you talking about?" He feigned ignorance.

"Why, did you suggest my feelings to Ash? In fact, how do you even know about my feelings?"

"…" Tucker said nothing.

"Noland?" Anabel asked the obvious.

"Actually it was Brandon who made the bet…" Tucker sweat dropped. "That and it was kind of obvious in that Ash Ketchum fan club we made last year…"

The Salon Maiden could feel her eye twitch in annoyance. " That was an accident and do you guys have nothing better to do than to bet on my love life?"

"Anabel, I was only trying to help."

"I don't need help." Anabel said stern yet politely. "I'll tell him when I tell him."

Tucker looked at her shaking his head. For all of Anabel's maturity, wisdom and skill, she was still a child and had so much to learn about life. "Young Anabel, if it is true love that guides you then, everything will work out in the end. What you need to be is true to yourself, show him Anabel the girl not the Salon Maiden or the trainer. I learned that from being with Fantina, she helped me become that man I am today." He said knowingly.

The young girl heaved up a sigh. "It's difficult… I mean he's so sweet and yet… he doesn't have a clue to what I feel for him."

Tucker let out a jolly laugh. "Ah but isn't that love? I used to gaze out of my window longingly at Fantina when I was a boy and yet I held no clue to what her true feelings were. Even with your stupendous empathic abilities Anabel, you cannot read a person's heart. Trust in him and you will find yourself in a better situation then you could hope for. You understand?"

"Yeah… I guess."

"Good!" He ruffled her lavender hair. "Now let's not keep Ash waiting shall we?"

They entered inside to see Ash playing with Pikachu. Hearing the two enter caused them to look up. "Oh… hey guys what you needed to do?" he asked them.

Tucker looked at Anabel fondly."Nothing much lad, just two friends catching up on each other. Tell me Ash how have you been liking your stay at the Battle Tower?" He sat down on his chair.

"Great actually! I have been having a lot of fun, so have my Pokémon, right Pikachu?"

"Pikachu!" The electric type nodded his head vigorously.

"Yeah, I have been also learning a lot about all the other things that are required to become a Frontier Brain."

"It's a lot of work isn't it?" Tucker asked humorously.

Ash heaved out a heavy sigh. "It is. I don't think I would have been able to remember it all if it hasn't been for Anabel here." He was very grateful for her patience helping him out. He messed up so many times that he was sure that she would snap at him soon, and yet… she didn't.

Anabel let out a small laugh. "Why thank you Ash. All it took was a little bit of practice."

"True, and you'll need even more practice. This is only the tip of the iceberg Ash. A Frontier Brain has many responsibilities. I know this might be a bit early but have you decided what will be you Battle Art yet?" Tucker took another sip of his tea.

"Battle Art?"

"Pi?" Both of them didn't know what Tucker was talking about.

"A Battle Art is what the Frontier Brain uses for facing an opponent. Mine is Tactics and Anabel's is Ability." Tucker explained. "I guessing you don't know yet?"

The young trainer hung his head down. "No I don't. What if I don't know it by the time the three months are up?"

"That's what I'm here for Ash. Besides I think I got a good idea what it might be." Anabel reassured him. Actually the battle today reveled at lot of things to Anabel here. For once it was nice to just be the observer.

"Well that's excellent Anabel, I'm sure Scott will be pleased to hear your progress. I must be off though, today was very informative." Tucker said.

"Why? You just got here." Anabel asked.

"I was intending to stay longer, but hearing that my Fantina is successful and has achieved her dream… I would like to pick up where we left off."

"Well it was nice seeing you again Tucker. And…" She leaned in to whisper "I would like to take him to the Cobalt Port Festival… if he says yes that is." Tucker let out a small chuckle, knowing that he had another project to work on, maybe even two.

Ash got up from the table to see the Battle Dome Ace off. "Hope to see you soon Tucker. It was… fun battling you. A lot more fun than I had in a while."

Tucker shook his hand. "Indeed it was young Ash. Keep your spirits up and your tactics sharp. I shall see you in three months. Hopefully in a relationship." He said with a double meaning.

* * *

_In the secret lair of Team Rocket…_

Giovanni observed the two Rocket members in front of him with a bored look. He was honestly more focused on the persian that sat across his lap."What do you two want?" annoyance lacing his voice. "Can't you two see that I'm already busy? We have two major projects going on right now and we can't afford any mistakes."

Butch and Cassidy steeled themselves before answering. "We came with information that might be a threat to Project: Master Rocket, sir." Butch said holding a small disk in front of him.

"Come again?" their boss asked.

"We have reason to believe that there might be a group capable of sabotaging our plans." Cassidy explained as Butch sled the disk over the desk.

Giovanni observed the disk with mild curiosity. _'A threat?_' he wondered. Who could possibly be a threat to the power of Team Rocket? They made sure that all the Elite Four Members would be clear of the area… who could it be?  
Now concerned about this, he slipped the disk into the computer. What came up surprised him. "Battle Frontier?" He asked insidiously.

Cassidy spoke up again. "Yes, they are currently still considered a small corporation but it is slowly growing. It is a program dedicating itself to expand the Art of Pokémon Battles. The major group is here in Kanto. Their head or the CEO of the organization is someone called Scott. As you can see there is not much information about him. No trainer ID, battle records or anything else just that he's in charge of the place.  
The others are a group of seven people, each in charge of a Battle Factuality."

Butch came to finish the speech bring up a file on the computer for each one. "Trainers usually battle them in this order. First is Factory Head Noland, Arena Tycoon Gretel, Dome Ace Tucker, _and man does he look flamboyant._" He muttered to himself. "Next is Pike Queen Lucy, Palace Maven Spencer, The Salon Maiden Anabel—"

"Isn't she a bit young to be a one of these… 'elite' Frontier Brains?." Giovanni interrupted.

"Uh no sir. She is the youngest of the Battle Frontiers, only fourteen years old. But as seen on the file here is that she has some sort of special ability that makes her Pokémon incredibly strong." Cassidy explained.

"Interesting… go on."

Butch continued. "Right sir and the last one is the Pyramid King Brandon. An interesting fact is that he specializes in legendary Pokémon." This caught their boss' interest.

"So they can pose as a threat… or become a very good benefit." He mumbled to himself.

"Benefit sir?" The duo asked.

"Yes… yes indeed. In fact they would be perfect for the plan…" He turned his attention back to Butch and Cassidy. "You two." They snapped to attention. "Find any more information on this group. Dig deep and also go and try to see if you can test one of these… Frontier Brains and how good their Pokémon are. I want you to give one hundred and fifty percent on this project. Don't fail me or there will be… dire consequences."

With that threat hanging over their heads, the two said a quick 'yes sir' and rushed out quicker than a bulbasaur with its bulb on fire.  
Giovanni went back to petting his persian while his mind went through the information he just received. "Now there are more pawns to the playing field. But which one are they, white or black?" he muttered to himself. "No matter, soon there will be nothing in my way to get what I desire. And when that happens… Kanto will be in my grasp in no time!"

End of Chapter 11

* * *

***Kingler's Hyper Cutter cancels out the Salamence's ability Intimidate**

**Short chapter I know but necessary. He we see some of Ash's determination come back to him. But at times he will still waver. Hopefully this battle will at least put some impression on him again. I did like writing about Kingler and using his larger claw for an advantage.**

**Tucker is a hard character to write though. Everything he does must be extravagant and like it's a performance! Geezzzz… But I also wanted to potray him more than a simply flamboyant man. A brotherly figure to Anabel of sorts. It goes with the element that the Battle Frontier is her family, that they look after one another.**

**You must be wondering what the Cobalt Port Festival is? Well you'll have to wait but I will say that it will be a major perspective changer for Ashy-Boy here. There was also mention of his Fan club made by the Frontier Brains (mentioned in chapter 3) here. It funny!**

**Now what is Team Rocket planning? It can't be good for the Frontier Brains if Giovanni wants them to 'help'.**

**Please Review and thank you for Enjoying chapter 11. Keep at it you crazy people! And do what ever you want to with ExtravangantShipping! **


	12. Black Glove

**I am truly sorry everyone for this delayed chapter, August was a very busy month. I went to Colorado with my family to a cabin that had no electricity, (or indoor plumbing, running water and only one bed a 4 mattresses) then immediately when we got back it was my birthday! Next we had to remodel our basement. Then school started and we had to move my sister back in to her college dorms and I had a crap load of HW to do these past weeks. I am really sorry for this but I hope this chapter full of abilityshipping will make it all up for that.**

**We will see a lot of character development by both Ash and Anabel here. Anabel will also show a new side to her and we will also see a character from the original series as well.**

**I hope you enjoy it and had a great summer.**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 12

Black Glove

(Week 4 of the initiation)

It had been several weeks since Ash's battle with Tucker. Ever since then his confidence has been inconsistent like the anime. Sometimes he could overcome the voice, and triumph in battle, other times his self-esteem would diminish like water in the dessert and his battles would end in lost. But Ash has never given up, thanks to Pikachu, his Pokémon and especially Anabel. In fact, it was probably through her alone that he is able to improve beyond his boundaries.  
That is… if she wasn't currently kicking his butt.

"MMUUUUUKKKKKkkkkkk…" The poison type groaned before fainting in front of his trainer's feet. He just suffered a powerful ice attack at the hands (?) of Anabel's Dratini, knocking him out of the battle.

Ash's face twisted into distraught over his lost. "Aw man!" He bent down covering his head in shame. This was his third lost to her in a row! With a sigh he got back up and called back his Pokémon. "You did a good job Muk. Now take a good long rest, you deserve it."

Anabel (who was currently wearing her travel attire without her green hat) walked up to him with a sympathetic smile on her face. "Well the good news is that you lasted almost fifteen seconds longer than last time." She said cheerily.

Ash looked up at her as Pikachu hopped back on his shoulder. "Yeah… fifteen extra seconds that had Muk stuck in an ice cube. Very progressive!" he said sarcastically. He stood back up with his back turned to her, arm crossed. He wasn't really angry or anything, but he wasn't in the mood to be happy right now.  
The Salon Maiden rolled her eyes this. Different from what Ash was seeing, she saw that he was improving greatly through their battles. Ash was slowly learning to deal with loses and having a disadvantage in battles. She had to admit though that losing was not the greatest way to start the day off. Luckily she knew something that did.

"C'mon Ash." She took off his hat and ruffled his hair. "How bout I treat you to some cake and tea at Mr. Von place? Will that cheer you up?"

He pretended to think about this. "Hmmmm… I do like cake and tea… I guess that will be okay… if only…"

"If only what?"

"If only… if you'll race me! C'mon Pikachu!" Ash started to run across the field to Cobalt Port, leaving Anabel behind.

"Hey that's not fair!" Anabel called from behind. She too was running but Ash already had a decent head start; there was no way she could catch up in time. _'But he didn't say we had to run.'_ A sly grin spread across her face. She let out a piercing whistle and in a few moments she heard who she called.

"Tooogakissss!" Her benevolent Pokémon appeared flying beside her.  
"Thanks Togakiss!" Anabel said as she hopped on back of her Pokémon. As she zoomed pass Ash, she called out. "See you at Von's Ashy-Boy!" She left a trail of laughter as they headed to the sky.  
Both Pikachu's and Ash jaw slacked, obviously dumbfounded to what just happened. Quickly he regained his thoughts. "Oh no you don't you cheater!" He took out a Poke'ball from his belt. "Staraptor I need you!" Releasing his hawk like Pokémon, Ash copied Anabel's motion and hopped on his back.

"Starrrr!" They ascended up towards the sky where Anabel and Togakiss were ahead of them. Ash edged Staraptor faster to catch up with them, to which Staraptor eagerly complied. Soon enough they were tailing the girls almost on the side. Anabel looked back and saw their determined looks. "So you finally decided to catch up? Bought time, I thought I would have to wait for you!" She mocked him lightly.  
Ash and Pikachu grit their teeth at the tease. "That's not my fault! You're the one who cheated!"

Anabel scoffed at him, one arm going over her heart like false hurt. "Cheated says the boy who got a head start! You never said that we had to run there!" By now Ash, Pikachu and Staraptor were neck n' neck with them; she could see his face forming a feral grin, the one he usually wore when he was deep in competition. She could feel one herself ghosting the edge of her lips. _'I'm not going to lose this one!'_ "Let's go Togakiss, time to kick it up a notch." She said to her Pokémon. With great skill Anabel rose from her crouched position and stood up on Togakiss' back. Then the flying type started to go even faster, bypassing Ash and Pikachu who stood a gap with awe at Anabel's skill.

"How are you doing that?" He called out to her, the race currently in the back of his mind. He saw her turn his head back towards him and shot him a playful grin. "Practice." Was all she said before turning her attention back towards beating him.  
Soon Ash felt the hot boiling sensation of trying something new burst into his ears. Without thinking about it, and ignoring Pikachu's cries of caution Ash stood up in Staraptor's back. "Alright Staraptor, let's get them!" The predator Pokémon sped up causing Ash to quickly regain his footing. But it paid off when they were able to reach Anabel again. She stood on Togakiss with an impressed look on her face.

"Impressive." She said. "Not many people are able to do that. Then again, not everybody has your nerve or… should I say recklessness."  
Ash smirked. "Heh… It pays off to throw caution in the wind and…- uhhh… Shouldn't we have been in Cobalt Port by now?" he asked her with a confused look on his face.

At the same time they looked down to see that they were currently flying over the open blue waters of the sea; Cobalt Port was way behind them in the distance. Seeing this, the two trainers instantly burst out laughing.  
So much so that Ash nearly lost his footing. Luckily Staraptor was able to regain his trainer who fell right on his back. Anabel, though relieved he didn't fall in the sea, giggle slightly. "How bought, we call off the race and turn back?"

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Their Pokémon both landed near the town at the same time. The two trainers recalled them back and decided to just walk to Von's out of the fact that racing could easily make them get carried away.  
On their way Ash for once noticed something odd about the people around them. They kept staring and making winks at him among other odd jesters. _'What's going on with these people?' _he thought before turning to Anabel. She looked even weirder than the rest of them. She was hanging her head down and a shade of deep red colored her face.

"Hey Anabel are you alright?" He said placing a hand on her shoulder not knowing what else to do. She gave a little jolt when he made contact with her.  
"Yeah I'm fine." She said shaking her head at her reaction; really after all this time spent with him, the slightest sign of unknown affection still affected her.

Then Ash noticed something else. "Hey what's going on with the town?" Ash asked looking around the town. The citizens were putting up flyers, posters and were reeling carts of fruit and other supplies along the streets. Even the wild Pokémon were helping out with the people.  
Anabel, who was happy for the change of subject, gladly answered him. "Well these people are preparing for the Cobalt Port festival or as the locals call it: The Bond Festival."

"The Bond Festival? Is that the one Tucker was talking about?"

"Pikachu?"

"It celebrates the bond that humans share with Pokémon; whether it is between a trainer and his partner, a breeder and her helpers or just people and the wild Pokémon that live side by side."

The duo grinned widely at the purpose of the festival. "Really that sounds great!"

"Yeah, there's food, activities, contest and costumes. I have been coming ever since I was a Battle Brain. It's really fun and would… ah I would… never mind."

"What is it Anabel?" Ash asked. She suddenly went shy again, and he was starting to prefer her as the outgoing girl… woma—young lady that he came to know these past weeks. "C'mon you can tell me anything? I won't laugh if that's your expecting."

"It's nothing really…" She said in a kind yet firm voice. "Just a silly little thought."

Ash looked at her concerned. "Nothing you say is silly to me…" he mumbled softly, sad that she wouldn't share her thoughts. He didn't know why he felt this way but he really liked when he and Anabel talked about them. It was strange, normally he didn't like this stuff usually, but then again he had been noticing a lot of changes over the past month.  
He began to notice details about everything like where do the Pokémon live and how nice the sunsets and sunrises were. He had become a lot more patient and attentive to everything not just Pokémon and battles. "Well I think—"

"Oh look we are here." Anabel interrupted him.

Ash noticed that they reached Mr. Von's bakery; forgetting his question by the smell of delicious treats. With for the past weeks they have been making more visits to Cobalt Port, Anabel has been trying to help Ash get familiar with the surroundings. From what Ash and Pikachu found out was that the port was pretty unique from most of the towns they visited on their travels.  
Despite of its small community, it played a large part of Kanto's shipping industry. There were valuable resources around the area, both on land and on sea. But what made it even more special was the symbiotic relationship between the People and wild Pokémon. For ever since the town was settled, Pokémon, both wild and tamed, always helped people in times of need. Eventually it came to the point where the Creatures were so integrated in their society that the town would be unable to function without them. But the humans helped the Pokémon as well. When they were injured or in need of shelter, people would heal the creatures and set up small huts for them to live in during a storm. In times of drought, the citizens would put food out for the wild Pokémon to eat.

This relationship really showed the unity of two species, and it even taught the thick-headed Ash a thing or two about daily life.

The treat was great as always, they ordered the same chocolate cake and tea as their first time there. _'Anabel sure was right about this always getting you out of a slump.'_ Ash thought.  
They decided to walk along a small stone path on the side of town to burn off more steam. Along the way a sudden conversation came up. "Hey Ash." Anabel said. "Can you come with me for a moment? I need to check something out that has been bothering me."

"Umm… sure… we don't mind right Pikachu?" _'Maybe she'll tell me what's bothering her.'_ He thought.

"Pikaaa chu pika."

""Great, thanks guys." Taking him the arm, Anabel veered around towards one particular building in sight: A medical clinic.

"So… uh… why are we going there?" Ash couldn't really keep the nervousness out of his voice as they got nearer and nearer toward the building.  
"Just a small check up I want to run you through. What's the matter? You're not scared of doctors are you?" She teased him lightly.

"Uh no!" he tired sounding brave. "I just never had a good experience with them…" he mumbled softly.

"Pi pika…" Pikachu agreed remembering the harsh doctor that yanked the apple out of his throat.

Anabel laughed slightly. "Don't worry. Dr. Erik is probably one of the nicest people I met. And treats both Pokémon and Humans carefully"

Entering the clinic Ash found it to be awfully homey for a medical clinic. There was a couch, tables, plants, bookshelves, a fireplace, and even some places for the Pokémon.  
"Ah Anabel, good to see you. Is this young man the one you wanted to have the test run?" Ash turned his head to see a tall young man with braided gold hair walk in from the hall way.  
"Hello to you too Dr. Erik." Anabel walked up and shook his hand. "This here is Ash and Pikachu." She introduced the two, while Dr. Erik shook his hand too.

"Yeah… hey Anabel… why am I here?" Ash asked very confused. Dr. Erik answered him.

"Well Ash, Anabel here has told me of you and we might believe that you have a special skill that most people do not have. If you don't mind, do you think I could run some examinations on you?" He beckoned to a room in the office.  
Ash thought about this, he couldn't come up with a reason why not to go through with this, and if Anabel is paying special attention to this as to go and get a professional than he guessed it's okay.

"Alright, why not." He said. "Hey Pikachu can you hang out with Anabel till I get back?" he asked his partner on his shoulder.

"Pika Pika." Pikachu said hopping towards her. The electric type didn't need much reason to hang out with Anabel. He was always eager to engage in a conversation with her.

The examinations weren't all that bad. Dr. Erik just ran a few tests with some machines, whose purposes he'll never know, over him. Then he was asked to hold a small brown rock in the palm in his hand. When he took it, the rock turned purple! But he had no time to ask any question to why this was as Dr. Erik shooed him out of the room while he checked on the results.

Bewildered and even more confused than he formally was, Ash asked Anabel to why he was here. The Salon Maiden smiled. "Well, do you remember when Rook punched you?"

"Do you mean the first time or the one-hundredth-and-twenty-second time?" He quipped.

"The first time. Remember that conversation I had with him right after wards?" Ash nodded. "Well most people Ash, would have broken a rib or two with the force of that punch, you however just came out with a small bruise and got right back up. You see were I'm going with this?"

"Ehhhhh… no not really." He said bluntly. Pikachu and Anabel both dead-panned a little but then again they should be used to Ash's density by now.  
"Well if my suspicions are correct then I believe you might have a special—" Dr. Erik just walked in the room holding a file.

"The results are in Miss Anabel." He said.

"So doc what's wrong with me?" the young trainer asked peering at the file in the doctors hand's. Dr. Erik chuckled slightly.  
"Well Ash… how do I explain this… you know what a Pokémon Ability is?"

Ash snorted. "Of course I do, I can't be a good trainer if I'm ignorant to such an important part of a Pokémon. It's a special skill that is activated at certain times depending on the conditions of battle. A good trainer knows how to use it to his own advantage." Of course he didn't want to mention that when he first started out on his journey that he had no clue to what that even was. He made a quick peek at Pikachu who was still in Anabel's arms. The electric type was smirking at him as if reading his mind.

"Good well, there are some humans… that have Abilities too in a way. And I'm not just talking about talents here. I'm sure you have seen Miss Anabel's Ability?"

Ash grinned at Anabel who in turned did the same. "Yeah, it's kinda hard to miss something like that."

"Of course, even for human Abilities, Anabel has been far the most stupendous and rarest I have ever studied. But you too Ash have an Ability or should I say Abilities."

"I do?"

"Yes, one of them is one that you were born with. You've heard of Aura I presume?" Ash nodded, remembering the event with Lucario; the first time he discovered about his Aura heritage. Then there was the time with Spiritomb, attacking Ash as he held the same mark as the Aura Guardian. Then there was Riolu with Hunter J, as he used Aura for the second time to read Roliu's mind. "Then I'm sure you know what it does, your second Ability comes from your Aura that has manifested it's self in a physical property.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, and excuse me for asking so many question but as you can see I need them, how many times have you suffered from a Pokémon Attack?"

"Pi Pi Pika Pika Pi Pi Pi Chu chu…" Pikachu began to count of his little figures, and then he ran out of them. "Pika chu kaPika…" Pikachu told Anabel.

"He says… 'Too many to count that Ash has been in a Pokémon attack.' Nearly a quarter of them were done by Pikachu himself." Anabel translated to the men.

"Yeah… that just about summons it…" Ash grumbled remembering all the times he's been shocked, flamed, frozen, cut, bruised, confused, tackled, and poisoned.

"And yet you come out of their generally unscratched… Your aura has slowly used these attacks to toughen and harden your skin. "Dr. Erik pinched his skin lightly. "Little by little your body has become a flexible armor that acts, and looks just like skin. We call it Tough-Skin and it's a common Ability most Aura users have."

It was interesting to Ash to think he had such an Ability. He never really noticed that he was tougher than the average human but he supposed that did make a lot sense. "So, what does this mean exactly?" his gut was telling him that there was something else to this meeting.

"Don't you see Ash? Your Aura could help you greatly in battle if you trained it. It will even help you bond in your Pokémon beyond normal level. " Anabel answered him.  
Ash's eyes widen. Though he knew he had Aura, he never really thought on how it could improve his training with it. Then again he saw how Riley used Aura with Lucario. _'Man, I was so stupid not to see that! I could have asked him to at least give me a few tips what to do!' _He faced palmed.

"What wrong? One moment you were exited now your acting like you lost a battle between an Aggron and a Caterpie… and you had the Aggron." Pikachu giggled at Anabel's comment.

"Well I just remembered that I knew I guy who had Aura but …arrr! I didn't even consider getting any type of training with him! I don't really know how to control aura… so I guess I can't do what you want me to." He sighed. The other occupants in the room sighed as well; well there went their chance to see the effect of aura. With some thank you and good byes, the two kids and Pikachu left for Anabel's house, in silence to see how they could solve their predicament.

'_There must be something that could help…'_ Anabel thought hard. She really didn't want this opportunity for Ash to pass; it could really help him get a grounding for himself and she didn't lie when she said it could help him bond with his Pokémon. _'Maybe my Ability could help… no… there not the same concept… maybe there is someone in the Battle Tower who could help… not there's… _"Wait a second." She said out loud. "Maybe there is someone!"

"Hmmm?" Ash looked at her still depressed from his inability to plan ahead. "Did you say something?'

Anabel looked excitingly at Ash. "I think I know someone who could help us out!"She took his hand once again and they rushed towards the Battle tower without another word.

* * *

"Alright thanks, see you soon." Anabel hanged up the phone.

"So who'd you talk to?" Ash asked getting up from the chair he had been sitting in for a while.

"That was an old friend I met during my third year at the Battle Tower, his name is Jed, and he happens to know a lot about aura."

"How will he be able to help me? Is he an Aura Guardian?"

She thought about it. "Not exactly, he does have the Ability to use aura but he's not a Guardian, more like a philosopher. He prefers to study it than take up the mantel of a Guardian." Anabel shrugged. "He's a bit strange but he's a capable person."

"Well when will he be able to get here? I would like to know as soon as possible." Ash's impatient side was showing up again. But he had good reason, he only had a little more than two months to learn it.

"Don't worry, Jed will get here in half a week, besides he's a good teacher, taught me a few things about Pokémon battles when I first met him."

"Really?" Ash asked. "Wow, now that I think about it, you must meet a lot of interesting people in the Battle Tower."

"Pika… pika pi chu pi ka?" Pikachu asked Anabel.

"What's he saying?"

"Well Pikachu is wondering if you guys could go meet the trainers. Would you?"

"Oh ahh… sure why not?" Ash smiled. "You make everything fun Anabel." It was true, Anabel knew how to make the most out of every situation, it was nice to have somebody who likes the same level of intense fun he did.

Anabel face turned a slight shade of pink. "Ahhh… well thank you." She still couldn't get use to these compliments of Ash's. Worse still was that they were getting more frequent.

Exiting to the elevator, they headed to the 24th floor of the Tower which is to be said the most popular room to observe trainers.

To Ash's surprise the seats that surrounded the battle arena were had a lot of people in it. They were all watching a battle between a Drapion and a Primeape. From a quick glance, he could tell that the battle was not going well for the poor Drapion, the Primeape was savage in its attacks.  
Anabel managed to find the some seats next to a dark skinned young man with blond hair concentrating greatly on the battle. "Hey Sept. How are you?" She greeted him.

Sept as he was called looked startled not noticing them there. "Oh hi Anabel. Fine, who's that behind you?" He pointed to Ash.

"My name's Ash, and this is Pikachu. I'm learning from Anabel on how to become a Frontier Brain." He shook Sept's hand.

"How's today's battle going?" The Salon Maiden asked.

Sept scowled. "Not so good. This new guy has been beating everyone who comes in eye contact with him, demanding that we take him to Frontier Brain, you of course. But we kept telling him that you were out." He shook his head in distain. "He didn't believe us and now he's been absolutely devastating everybody he challenges. It's really been a mess."

Anabel looked sternly at the insolent boy who been making a ruckus at her Tower. "Well, if he wants the Salon Maiden, then I shall give him what he wishes. But he won't be getting a battle from me." She took out a Poke' Ball. "Espeon, I need your assistance. Ash stay here, I'll be right back."

When Ash took a seat next to Sept, he tried to get a better look at the challenger. The guy had blue hair, red tinted sunglasses, and a bag of Poke' balls on the side… wait… "I know this guy!" Ash hissed between his teeth remembering this pathetic excuse of a trainer.

"Uh… you do?" Sept asked confused.

"Yeah." Ash said, his voice filled with disgust. "It was during my first journey. This creep here left his Charmander to die in the rain because he couldn't train him properly. But I took the Charmander to take care of. He's an insult to all trainers, a pathetic excuse to a decent person."

"Pika…" He could sense his electric type narrow his eyes, Pikachu's cheeks were sparking fiercely at the memory.

Anabel walked up to the trainer, in her no nonsense attitude. Just by looking at him, she knew his type, cocky, arrogant, carless and prideful. She was quiet peeved b him already on how he just barged in here, demanded to see her without an appointment and started to beat up her battle participants in his rage like a child. "Excuse me." She said in a polite voice. "The people here are telling me that you are looking for the Battle Brain of this building is this true?" She asked when he just finished his battle.

The boy snorted unpleasantly. "Yeah, what does it look like? Are you here for a battle?"

Anabel forced herself not to roll her eyes. "No, but I happen to be the Battle Brain of this facility, and I ask why do you insist on being rude to the people around here?"

The boys eyes widen in surprise but then narrowed, he smirked showing of his arrogance. "My name is Damien and I came here looking for a battle with the supposedly '_legendary' _trainer of this area. As for why I'm destroying your battlers, well, not my fault that you trained them all weakly."

From the stands Ash gritted his teeth in fury at every word Damien said. He shouldn't be talking to Anabel that way! How dare he insinuate that she is weak! "That's it. I can't take this anymore, can you Pikachu?" He was answered by a growl and the sparking of electricity. Sept looked up startled by the trainer and Pokémon's attitude but they left before he could say anything.

Anabel scowled at Damien's conceited attitude. Just when she was about to tell him off, she felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Looking up behind her she saw Ash staring quite sternly at the challenger. "Hey, he's not worth it. I'll handle this."

Damien stared mockingly at Ash. "Who's this, your Champion?"

"Heh… figures you don't recognize me, after all you often didn't acknowledge those you saw beneath you… like you charmander for one."

The challenger was shocked by how this stranger knew of this… but then he began to recognize him. Black hair, stupid red cap… a Pikachu…

"WAIT! You're that stupid kid that took my Charmander!" he accused Ash who snorted.

"That's funny; I seem to remember you bragging to a bunch a people on how you dumped him because he was so weak." He said viciously. For a moment there, Ash was surprised by his own attitude; even to Paul he never acted so bitter. _'But this guy deserves it.'_ He thought as he looked with satisfaction on how the pompous brat looked uneasy by what he said.

Damien tried to defend his actions "Well, he was… I'm pretty sure you did the same thing once you found out."

Ash and Pikachu smirked. "Actually, I still have my _Charizard_, in fact I won the Battle Frontier with him, not to mention some legendary Pokémon battles."

Damien couldn't hide his shock at this. While he tried to figure out how this can be, Ash went over to Anabel who held a livid expression at the challenger at his treatment towards a Pokémon. "C'mon, let go. I'll tell Maron to 'escort' him out."

"Espe."

"Pikachu." The two Pokémon agreed. He began to walk them out when Damien's voice rang though the air.

"Oh now I see, the Battle Brain is too scared to fight his own battles. Hey how about you actually let him be in charge of the Tower instead of you? And by the way, tight shirts are for girls you boy!"

With that said, Ash actually wanted to turn back and punch him in the face, by stopped when he felt a cold chill rush in the room; he didn't know if this was a physical chill or something that had to do with is aura senses. He wondered if Anabel could feel this. "Uh… Anabel?" He asked, she had gone completely still.

"Ash could you please sit back down?" She asked her voice completely monotonous. He wanted to argue and ask why, but the chills she was giving off told him to do as she said. "Espeon let's go." They turned heal and head straight back towards Damien.

"Heh… it looks live you have a backbone after all." He said with false bravo, this place suddenly went cold to him.

Anabel was silent for a while but then she spoke, quietly at first, but slowly rising with every word. "You come here without an appointment, rudely prosecute my battlers. Insult MY NAME AND MY FACILITY! And have the nerve to INSULT my friends and ABANDONED YOUR POKEMON!" Her voice was dangerously high.

"Awww, did I hurt the tough guy's feelings?"

Her purple eyes narrowed. "I'm a girl." She hissed then she reached for her pocket.

"Uh-oh… this is not good." Sept said when Ash sat next to him.

"What is?" He asked trying to keep his voice calm; the confrontation with Damien had his and Pikachu's blood still boiling.

"Black Glove Anabel." Sept almost whispered. Ash looked at her and saw that she did indeed pull out a fingerless black glove out of the pocket. She slid it over the hand that she used to pull out Poke'ball with.

"Okay… what's going on?" He asked Sept who gulped and had his eyes looking around worried.

"You see, we like to call it Anabel's darker side… kinda… it when she gets ticked off… I mean really ticked off. Normally that takes a lot of effort to do that, it happens when a stupid trainer or person does something to insult her personally. Whenever this happens she takes that black glove out and gives those people a battle they'll never forget… and I have to admit… if feel sorry about those people in the aftermath."

Ash and Pikachu's eyes widen. "Does this happen normally?" to their relief, Sept shook his head.

"No… only a few times… but when it does… oh gosh I can't even begin to describe it!"

Then Sept shut up completely give Ash no more information about this, turning back to the battle he was surprised to see that it already begun. But that shock was nothing compared to what was going on in it. Let's just say in was certainly a spectacle.

Espeon was holding Damien's Primeape high in the air, flinging it in all sorts of directions. Damien was looking at the horror of how utterly powerless he was to Anabel's might. "Finish it." Anabel said to Espeon not even bothering with her telepathic communication.

"Espe!" With a mighty heave Primeape was hurtled down to the floor, sending dust in all direction. The primeape was knocked unconscious by this and was quietly called back by a quickly angering Damien.

"ARRRRR! LUCKY SHOT!" He yelled taking out another Poke'ball. "Feraligatr! Show this punk a lesson!" As the water type let out a might roar, Anabel slightly called Espeon back and sent out her other Pokémon.

"Meta…" Metagross growled, sensing his mistress displeasure.

Ash noticed something odd about this battle… everything Anabel did felt… icy yet fiery at the same time. For some reason this reminded him of his battles with not only Paul but also with Gary and Tyson. They had this same feeling… he would have to ask her about it later.

"Metagross use Earthquake." Quicker than thought possible by a steel type, Metagross slammed one giant leg on the ground which resulted in a huge crack in it that sent up giant pillars of earth up, knocking Feraligatr quicker than it's trainer could realize what was going on.

"HOW IS THAT… WHY YOU!" Damien screamed bloody murder, recalling his fallen Pokémon and sent out his last Pokémon Gengar.

Like before Anabel recalled hers and sent out a familiar face to Ash, Drifloon.

"This time you won't get a chance to knock out mine! Gengar use Shadow Ball!" His Pokémon formed a sinister sphere and launched it to Anabel's Pokémon.

And yet Anabel did nothing, nor did Drifloon who both stared calmly at the oncoming attack.

'_What is she up too?'_ Ash wondered. From the past weeks he spent with her, he learned that anything she did had an alternative motive.

He was right, Anabel sent a message to her Drifloon unbeknownst to everyone else. _'Drifloon my friend, try to stand against this attack. I believe this will give you the power you need.'_ Drifloon had unwavering faith in his mistress and stood strong when the Shadow Ball collided with him.

The audience stared in awe at Drifloon's stamina, but it increase further when a bright white light took over him

"What's… what's going on?" Damien backed away. No one noticed the small all knowing grin that Anabel held as she watched her Pokémon evolve. No one, except Ash.

'_She knew all this time that Drifloon was only a tiny bit away from evolving… and by having Damien cause it, he just dug his own grave deeper.'_ He thought with must relish, nothing was more fitting in his opinion.

"Drifblim!" The now evolved Driflblim cried out in joy. It used one of his yellow tipped appendages and gave Anabel his version of a thumbs up.

'_I'm glad for you Drifblim… you came so far since we met. Now show everyone your power and use Thunder on that pathetic excuse for a trainer!'_

Like with his battle with Buizel, Drifblim let out a devastating bolt of lightning that didn't even give Gengar a chance to cry out before it was knocked unconscious.

At this moment the crowd let out a wild cheer for the Salon Maiden, the loudest being Ash and Pikachu. But even that was overcome by Damien's outraged scream.

"NO WAY! THERE IS NO WAY I COULD LOSE TO A LOSER LIKE YOU!" he screamed at Anabel; scariest part was though, it looked like he was about hit her. But in that instant Ash and Pikachu rushed over to defend her, Drifblim had a Shadow Ball ready and aimed at him, but all that was unnecessary when the blue glow of psychic surrounded Damien and he was lifted up in the air.

Maron appeared holding a silver spoon similar to the ones that the Abra evolutionary line holds. "Is everything alright Miss Anabel?" He asked making a quick glance to Damien. "I presume you have everything handled?"

Anabel smiled sarcastically. "Yes, you could say I gave him an experience he'll never forget." She showed him the black glove on her hand that made Maron shudder. "Could you please escort him out for us?

Without another word, Maron led a screaming Damien out with the crowd behind them cheering at his defeat.  
Anabel turned back to Ash sighing as she took off her glove. "Well, that was exciting wasn't it?" she said light heartedly.

Ash and Pikachu looked at each other with a bemused expression. "Yeah… that… that was something… I've never seen you so… icy… like a cold fire almost." He noticed Anabel's eyes widen at what he said. "Oh… did I say something wrong?"

"No actually… have you ever heard of the Two Fires of Battle?" Ash shook his head. "Then I believe I need to show you something… and by the way Ash… thanks for helping me out back there."

The funny feeling came back up again… but lately it hasn't been all that funny and more like the warmth Ash felt when something wonderful happened. "Heh. Anytime Anabel… anytime."

X

When they headed back to Anabel's house, she led him to a miniature library within its confinements. She then handed him a book that she just picked out. "Here read this."  
Ash saw that the cover showed two flames, one red and the other blue; the title said '_The Two Fires of Battle: Mastering the art of Battle'_ The authors name was blurred.

"What is this?" He asked her. Ash wasn't much of a book reader but he was also curious to why Anabel would hand this to him.

"You know that fiery feeling you get when you battle? How it almost burns you in a way that drives you forward?" He nodded. "Well this book explains it as the Hot Fire. And there is another type that is Cold Fire which you saw today… only in a darker sense. But please read this book, even for people who don't like reading, it will appeal to your battle interest."

Ash looked interestingly at this book. He guessed it could be fun, and if Anabel suggested it than it would help him greatly. _'Which reminds me…'_ "Hey Anabel?" he asked her

"Hmmm?"

"Earlier today… in Cobalt Port, what were you going to ask me?" to his disappointment, Anabel shook her head.

"It's nothing Ash, nothing important." She began to turn away but Ash side stepped her.

"Hey… it has to be important if you brought it up." He looked at her firmly. "C'mon, trust me Anabel. Let me help you out like you help me alright? Now what is it that you want to ask me?"

"Pika pi Pika KaChu Pika."

"See, even Pikachu wants to know."

She bit her lip nervously. Should she ask? What if he was uncomfortable and weirder out? But then she remembered on how he stood up for her against Damien, and how he easily he had become adjusted to her presence. Besides, she had nothing to lose, just an opportunity.

"Well… Ash Ketchum, would you like to go to the Cobalt Port festival with me?" she asked braver than she felt.

And without a moment of hesitation he said. "What? Well of course I'll go with you Anabel!"

Her eyes brighten. "You will?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Pikaka Pi Pi-Pikachu?" Pikachu cried in distress not wanting to be forgotten.

"And of course you can too Pikachu." Anabel laughed at his behavior and Ash joined her as well. Then they forgot about their worries and problems, it was fun for them just to be like this. Just the two of them with the Pokémon.

End of Chapter 12

X

**Well well, It seems that we have three new plots to cover next chapter, the Mysterious Aura Philosopher; Jed, the fires of battle, and the Cobalt Port Festival. Also it appears that Ashy-boy here is not as dense as he looks anymore. **

**I hope you enjoyed Black Glove Anabel here. No she won't turn into some evil psycho or anything like that it simply just a stricter and colder side to her that was developed from her past.**

**I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and please tell me on your reviews as well as the answer to these questions.**

**How are my characters developing so far? Am I going to fast or too slow?**

**Has my writing improved any?**

**Are my characters still acting like themselves or are they going to OOC?**

**And if you have anything else you want to ask about please do.**

**Please tell me how you feel. **

**And thank you my dear readers for all the constructive criticism you give. I really do appreciate it!**

**Yours sincerely  
True-InTha-Blue**


	13. Festival of Change

**GEEZ OH PETE! This is the longest chapter ever! But it was worth it.**

**I originally planned to have it be two separate chapters, but then I realized that I didn't have enough material for two. I really hope you don't mind this or the wait. I have been having a few problems lately and well… sorry.**

**But this chapter does HAVE ABILITYSHIPPING! ALMOST ON BOTH SIDES TOOO!**

**I am ecstatic. This is one of the most pinnacle points of Ash's character development!**

**Oh by the way… THANK YOU EVERY ONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED ME THUS FAR! I really appreciate you guys and I hope I am fulfilling your needs for a good story! Thank each and every one of you.**

**So please, sit back, relax and enjoy the read!**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 13

Festival of Change

(First month and the 5th day of the initiation)

"Man this book is great!" Ash exclaimed finally finishing the Book about the Two Fires of Battle. Today our hero sat in Anabel's training area just relaxing and monitoring the Pokémon fighting. Anabel sat next to a tree stump grooming the Pokémon who came up to her and Ash had been lying against the ground reading page after page of his book. Anabel was right that it would appeal to his trainer's side.  
The book was about a theory of trainers having two different types of 'flames' in their bodies/minds or a driving force that affected their action.

There was the Hot Fire which was normally shown in hot-bloodied trainers such as Ash himself. Hot fire lead to a warm sensation in the body, making them act aggressive in battle. Some notable traits in their fighting style would be resourcefulness, well-balanced Pokémon, ability to figure out how to get out of a sticky situation and normally a ruthless attack pattern.  
Cold fire was found in more calm-headed trainers such as Anabel or even better, Paul. Cold Fire showed a chilling sensation that almost felt like a person was being burned, this made them cool-headed and calculating in battle. Their notable traits were level headedness, brilliant attack strategies, disciplined, had a particular taste in Pokémon (though this sometimes did not always apply) and specialized in finishing an opponent off as soon as possible.

The book also mentioned that it was possible for people to learn both or be born with both. But these cases were extremely rare, and Ash didn't think he had the patience to learn how to cool his head off.

But the most interesting subject in the book was the compatibility of the two flames. When a Hot Fire battled a Hot Fire, both who are completely subjected in the flames, the battles tend to become a series of clever and rash strategies, always changing and becoming unorthodox. When two Cold Fires clashed, their battles were an awing spectacle of tactics and calculations; often a contest of power between the two.

But when a Hot Fire and a Cold Fire battled each other then the Battle would be something to remember; some of history's greatest battles are said to have the two fire. Since the two are opposites, the battles are often unpredictable and challenging for both. One of the most notable things is that both sides have often said that it was their best battle they ever had. Ash did wonder if this was the reason why he had such a fun time battling Anabel.

Hearing him finish it, Anabel looked up from brushing Ash's Quilava's fur. "I told you would like it. Personally I believe it fascinating on the theory on the way we fight."

"Do you have other books like this? I wouldn't mind reading some more honestly. I think I might be interested what else people wondering about battles." He grinned. Anabel was about to answer but was interrupted by her Poke'Navi ringing. She flipped it open to read the text inside her, eyes widening at every word. "What is it?"

"I believe you'll be starting your aura lessons soon. Jed sent me a text telling me he just arrived."

The trainer looked surprised, he had forgotten about Jed the Aura Philosopher; he had gotten so engrossed in the book that learning about aura had been put aside. Anabel didn't want to keep him waiting though; they headed toward her house where Anabel said that is where Jed was.  
When they arrived Ash did see a figure standing in front of the house. Looking closely he saw a young man about 18 or 17. The guy had snow white hair that was messily spiked that covered his green eyes and had a black flat cap covering it. He wore a simple blue jacket, gray shirt, fingerless gloves and black pants with a satchel slung around his shoulders. The young man looked lazily at them but grinned when he acknowledged them. "Yo. Miss Anabel you're looking well since I last saw you. Life been treating you well?" he said to the Salon Maiden in friendly terms.

Anabel grinned. "You could say that, how have you been Jed?" she said his name which confirmed him as the Aura Philosopher.

Jed shrugged. "Peachy-Keen." He tuned to Ash. "Oh how rude of me, my name is Jed, Jed Stone." He offered his hand. Seeing that he was friendly enough, Ash shook hands.

"Hi my names Ash and this is Pikachu."

"Pi Pika." Pikachu waved his stubby arm.

Jed's face flashed in recognition. "Ah so you two are the famous Ash and Pikachu. I guess that you're my new students for a while."

"Yeah, I'm totally psyched about learning about aura. When do we start?" Ash couldn't help but wonder on how Jed would teach. What would they start first? How were they suppose to tape in the power of aura?

Jed chuckled. "Well right now as soon as I lay down my stuff. But remember, you hardly have any experience with aura, we're going to have to start with the small stuff first."

Ash shook his head sheepishly. "Oh right…" He watched as Jed put down his satchel and started to think. He was getting more and more impatient, Jed sure was taking his time, and it appeared as though he was doing this on purpose. Jed noticed this and stated to chuckle.

"Ah I see you aren't the patient type."

Realization came to Ash. "You were testing me?" he asked nervously.

The Philosopher nodded. "Yes, I do this with my students I teach so I get a feel on how they behave. Don't worry you've done nothing wrong, in a way we will turn that impatient into a strength. Now Miss Anabel do you have anything in mind that we can use for a training field?"

Anabel nodded. "Of course, we just came from there anyway. C'mon Ash and I will show you." As they walked along the woods, she contemplated on how Jed and Ash were handling the situation. She was impressed on how easily how Jed could get a read on Ash (then again he is not the hardest book to read) in such a simple way. "Here we are. Is there anything I else I can do or would you rather be by yourselves?"

Jed looked expectantly to Ash for his answer. "Well I'm fine with you here as long as Jed is too." He looked nervously to Jed. Was this another test? It was hard to tell what this guy was expecting of Ash to do, should he be honest or do the smart choice?

"Hey settle down Ash. Miss Anabel your fine the way you are. Sit down in fact; Aura training is not something you see every day, though I must say that the first couple of days may be uneventful." Jed said beckoning her to sit down with a wave of his hand.

"Alright then, and Jed I told you last year that you can call me Anabel."

Jed sat down. "Ah sorry, but I can't help myself but to be formal, that's how I was raised."

Ash looked at the two of them. They sure seemed to know each other well, and for some strange reason it left a bitter taste in his mouth. "So Jed, how do you know Anabel?" He tried to change the subject. As Jed stared at him with his green eyes, Ash felt as though he was being X-rayed.

"Well, when I first met Miss Anabel she handed me a good defeat on my buttocks. Her Ability defiantly caught me off guard and I do say that being a philosopher that I was impressed beyond belief at her amazing Ability."

Anabel smiled kindly. "Actually Jed gave me a decedent battle for a first timer. Like you I talked to him about the battle and eventually we got to talking about techniques and strategies for battle. He then revealed to me that he was an Aura user. I myself was interested in a subject so we kept in contact, trading information. Simple as that." Little did she know that insides of Ash relaxed knowing that the two were nowhere near the same level of friendliness that he shared with Anabel.

'_Strange… why would I think that?' _he wondered to himself. It wasn't like Jed was a bad fellow quite the contrary and from what Anabel had said that he was a good battler too, so why did he feel such anxiety to how close the two were. _'Forget it, I'm here to learn about Aura.' _"So Jed, where do we start off at?"

Jed put a figure on his chin to think about it. "Hmmmm, well first off, tell me what you know about Aura and have you had _Any_ experience with it? Tell me everything including the small stuff. This way I will know where to start you off and what pace I have to go, alright?"

Pikachu looked at Ash, he knew what his trainer was about to say and he could tell that retelling the tale about the Tree of Beginning wasn't going to be easy. "Pikachu." He encouraged his trainer.

"Alright." Ash knew what Pikachu was doing and appreciated it. "When I first heard about Aura was at Cameron Palace."

"Let me guess during the Festival of Sir Aaron?" Jed asked.

Ash nodded continuing. "After I won the Pokémon battle I received Sir Aaron staff and—"

Ash told them about the rest of the tale of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. How Lucario burst forth from the staff demanding answers. How Pikachu was taken by Mew and that was their reason for traveling to the Tree of Beginning in the first place. He also told them how he met Kidd also and that she was the first one who told him what Aura really was.

"Let me guess, she told you that Aura is in every person, place and thing right?" He sighed when Ash nodded. "Psshh, amateurs. Let me set it to you strait Ash, never, and I mean never believe that concept especially when it's told by a person who _doesn't_ have an Aura."

"What do you mean?"

"Not everybody had Aura; that is just a myth some bloke back in the Middle Ages made up so that he and everyone would believe that they can do anything that an Aura user can do. No, if everyone could use Aura, then everyone would be using it. Heck all Pokémon would have the ability to use Aura Sphere if they wanted to if that was true. No Ash, Aura is a genetic trait that is passed down, that utilizes a sixth sense (so to speak) and produces an energy called Aura. You got that?"

Jed words cut like a knife in Ash's brain as though it would forever stay there. "Okay, but what is it that people see when we 'see' with Aura?"

"Pi pika pi?"

"Ah… so you know some of Aura's abilities. Well that is called a person's Signature, it like seeing their personality or power in physical form. Sorry for interrupting though continue on."

Then he told them what happened in the tree and it defensive system and how Mew came to their rescue. And he told them the truth behind Sir Aaron and Lucairo's noble deed and death. A few tears streamed down his face but no one seemed to think less at him. Wiping his face off he told them about Spiritomb and Hunter J and Riolu who had the strong Aura. "And so that's what I know."

"Well Ash I see that you know—" Jed paused. "Absolutely nothing about Aura!" He said cheerily.

Ash and Pikachu deadpanned. "Thanks." He grumbled sarcastically.

"Don't worry about it, no one know anything about Aura until they are taught… well that's not true… I did! But that's because I grew up in a community that knew about Aura but that's not important… the point is Ash, your normal… except that you got probably the most powerful Aura I have ever seen." He said this very fast.

"Uhh… okay?" The aura philosopher was creeping Ash and Pikachu out a bit. He kept switching his personality rapidly.

Jed stood up cracking his knuckles "Well first things first, we need to make you an Anchor." The knuckle cracking was making our hero nervous. Was he going to fight Jed?

"What's an anchor?" He said as he and Pikachu slowly tried to shift away.

"An Anchor is an Aura-User slang term for an object to help you focus your Aura powers." Then Jed pulled off one of his gloves turning the back of his hand towards them. On it was a green shimmering spot that looked like Peridot gemstone engraved in the back of his hand. "You see I choose my hand to be my Anchor, as you can see that there is a visible effect to said object. The object can also be inorganic, such as an article of clothing or a piece of jewelry."

"Wow that's awesome." Ash said forgetting his unease around the philosopher. This did explain why he was able to use Aura when he had Sir Aaron's gloves. "But uhhh… why is it green?"

Jed laughed a bit. "Most people's Aura's are different, when I use aura it comes in the color green. But back to the subject to Anchors; the same rule also applies to Pokémon but they are born with it. A lucario's Anchor lies in its head appendages, and with a togakiss it's in the crest on the top of its head."

"That makes a lot of sense actually, most scientist today wonder why those two particular Pokémon have Aura powers while others do not." Anabel said joining in with them. Jed nodded agreeing.

"That's right Miss Anabel, but truly, even the community of Aura users are also wondering why all lucario and togakiss have Aura in the first place. All we know is how they use aura."

"So what do Anchors help with?" Ash asked. He was curious to how this process worked.

"Well, Anchors are kinda like a signal tower for the Aura inside of us. It gathers in the center point so we may use it when we like to. As you can imagine it is a major pain in the _arse_ to call upon aura without one. Only in extreme circumstances is this possible. Like you situation with Riolu and Hunter J, but I imaging it was easier because you had a riolu with a exponential aura power." He said putting his glove back on.

"Alright then! How do I get my Anchor?" Ash said excitingly. This was his first step to becoming an Aura guardian!

"Hey, hey; remember, aura is something you can't do in just one day. This will take a while. It took me almost a week to get my Anchor in place. Not counting the other week I spent on wondering where I wanted to put it."

"I bet I can beat that." Ash said confidently.

"Pikachu!" His partner agreed. They knew Ash was a fast learning when he wanted to be, and they were determined to learn it as soon as possible.

"Alright then." Jed crossed his arms. "I'd like to see that. And if you can do it in less than a week I'll teach you one of my special techniques." He held out his hand. "Shake on it?"

Without hesitation Ash made the deal, a feral grin forming on both of their faces. "Fine now how to I get an Anchor?"

"Heh heh you make it sound like it's so easy. Okay I'll tell you the basic process. Aura comes from emotion and also clarity. The best emotion to draw the power out would be a happy emotion." Jed grinned widely. "BUT! It can't be any happy emotion; it needs to be the clearest feeling you have ever known. Or should I say feelings."

The trainer and Pikachu narrowed their eyes simultaneously. It seemed like Jed was making the fight for the answer, never giving it to them strait. "What do you mean things?"

"One happy and clear emotion won't cut it. You need possibly two or three in order to create a powerful enough force to willingly and consciously pull the aura upwards. Once you have those, then I will tell you the process after."

Ash looked bewildered. "WHAT? You mean I have to spend all this time to just think about happy things?" If this was true than aura training would be more boring than he expected.

Jed shrugged. "Basically. Though not that easy, I soon found out when I first reacted like you. Also you need to decide on where you want to put that Anchor at."

"Like where?"

"Anywhere, so long as it's near you all the time. Some people put it on possessions so they won't have the physical effect. However there is a chance of losing the Anchor then. That's why I put it on my hand… well because … I lose things… often." He said the reluctantly his eyes shifting and his face flushed red in embarrassment.

"Fine then I'll do it all day if I have to." With that said, Ash sat down on the grass and started thinking. Pikachu joined in a similar position. Soon enough both were deep in their minds.

Jed raised an eyebrow at Anabel. "He's serious about that?" He asked as she walked up to him.

"Yep, I tell you Ash can go through anything once he puts his mind to it. You should hear what happened when I first sent him on an errand for me." She laughed at the memory.

The Aura Philosopher's eyes lit up. "Oh do tell. I need a good laugh for today." He took one more look at Ash and Pikachu. "I have a feeling that that we should get something to eat while we wait."

"Alright I tell you on the way there."

* * *

Jed was right when he said that Ash would take several hours. After a sometime of exchanging stories, battle strategies and books between Jed and Anabel, Ash finally moved from his spot startling them both. "MAN! I cannot think of anything!" he screamed in the air flopping down on his back, Pikachu mimicked this expression perfectly. They both realized how sore they were from not moving an inch.

"Oh good, he's moving." Jed said. "I was afraid he might have died." This earned him a punch on the arm from Anabel.

"Don't say things like that. You sense of humor hasn't changed a bit." Anabel scolded him. Jed just shrugged in response while they both walked over to the collapsed trainer. Jed leaned over to say "Still think you can do this in a week kid?"

In anger Ash leapt to his feet, pointing at Jed in retaliated "Just you wait! I'll have this done and you'll be teaching your secret technique before you know it!" Jed stepped back a bit, a little intimidated the smaller boy's ferocity.

"Yeah well, you're going to have to call it quits tonight." Jed said pointing to the setting sun. You need all the energy you can get for tomorrow."

"Do you have a place to sleep Jed?" Anabel asked they headed back out of the forest.

"Don't worry about little old me Miss Anabel. I'm staying near a Pokémon Center not too far off from here. I'll be back tomorrow morning to see how Ash here progresses."He looked at the both of them. "That is of course, you two are not busy at the Battle Tower."

Anabel shrugged."Well I do have to check up on some paper work Scott may have assigned me. Also I was planning to have Ash hand out some flyers during the afternoon."

"So what are we going to do?" Ash asked putting his arms behind his head. All three including Pikachu thought about a way to work this out until Jed snapped his fingers.

"How 'bout this, Ash mediates for the morning under my supervision, then during lunch he can head over to the Battle Tower to do his job. After that he can just come back to continue it."

Both agreed on the schedule seeing as they themselves couldn't find a better situation. With good nights and smiles that promised a new day, Ash and Anabel departed from the Aura Philosopher till the next day.

* * *

"Man oh man! I didn't know thinking about happy things could be so DIFFICULT!" Ash complained loudly when he entered Anabel's office at noon. He had just spent the whole entire morning with Jed Stone and so far he's come up with zip to get his Aura going.  
Anabel grimaced at the volume of his voice. "Keep it down Ash, the people on the first floor can hear you."

Ash smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Anabel, didn't mean to be so loud. It's just that Aura training is so… so frustrating." He flopped down on the couch and started to pet Pikachu. "I mean, I can't just think of any happy memory. I have two so far but the last… I have no clue how to approach it."

Anabel cast a sympathetic look at the trainer. "Well what do you have so far? Maybe I could help you?"

"Well the first one I have is my first day as a Pokémon trainer; when I first got Pikachu. I remember every bit of that day and how happy I felt in it." He smiled nostalgically and gave Pikachu a caring glace who returned it with a small "Pikapi…"  
"Then my other memory is actually a combination of them. It was when I always triumphed in a very hard and tough battle. Like when I won against Gary, when I won the Orange league and also when I defeated Paul. Those were some of the greatest moments I ever had." His face then scowled. "But even those memories are not enough to summon my aura! I don't know what else to think about!" He slumped in defeat as Pikachu put a concerned paw on him.

"Pika pika…"

"Hmmm… I'm thinking about it Pikachu." Anabel answered from her desk. She also didn't know where to go from there. The memories that Ash picked certainly were good, and she didn't know what else was there. "Have you ever asked Jed about it?"

"Huuhh?" Ash looked up.

"Have you ever asked him about it, not exactly his personal memories but what each meant to him?" She explained further.

"No can't say I have." It did make sense. Though Jed didn't seem to too keen on helping out. No matter how much Ash struggled with his progress, the Aura Philosopher never seemed to offer help. "He doesn't seem to want to help me much."

"That's because you never asked." Jed's voice came wavering from the elevator. The two trainers saw the white haired teen standing in front of the entrance. "Asking does wonders for everyone. All you have to do is just present a question."

Ash narrowed his eyes. "You're the teacher, aren't you suppose to teach me these things?"

Jed shook his head. He took off his hat and twirled it around. "Ash, Ash… Everyone teaches differently as does everyone learns differently. You asking questions is part of another test. But do not worry." He added seeing Ash's worried look. "My tests have many answers, some even I don't know. However these tests are important to both you and me; I need to know what makes you tick and you need to know how I teach." Jed paused for a moment.  
"As for you asking questions, it teaches humility, ingenuity, and observation. Everything you do is up to you alone. Now do you have something to ask me?"

Ash looked long and hard at Jed; deciphering what this guy is up to. "Yes… what have you thought when you tried to have happy memories?"

Jed smiled kindly. "Now that's a good question. I will answer it but not now."

"Why not?" Ash said getting up.

"Because…you have a job to do for Miss Anabel." He gestured to the Salon Maiden. "I'll be in the training room if anyone needs me… audios."

Ash turned to Anabel, looking at her confused. "Has he always been like this?"

"Yes." She said before leaning down to get something. In her arms was a large sized stack of flyers. "And he is right about you having a job to do." She handed him the stack.

"So what am I suppose to do?" Ash asked as Pikachu jumped back on his shoulder.

"I want you to go to every floor and post one of these flyers on the message board. They're announcements about the Bond Festival at Cobalt Port if anyone wants to come. It's in two days you know."

Ash looked in surprise. He didn't realize that the celebration was only two days. Time seemed to fly by, spending time with Anabel. Normally when he hanged out with a girl, the clock seemed to drag on… and on… and on.

"Ash are you alright?" Anabel snapped her fingers in front of him when she saw his face glaze over. This snapped our hero out of his stupor, blinking his eyes he realized that he managed to daze off right in front of Anabel.

"Oh sorry about that Anabel. The date took me by surprise but that's just great that its two days away, right Pikachu?"

"Pikachu!" His starter heartily agreed. Any celebration with Anabel and Ash was a night to remember.

"Right, I'll get to it." Ash tried to balance the papers to keep them from falling. "See you tonight, I'm making dinner right?"

"Indeed you are, and you better not forget." She joked as he headed down the elevator and then mused on how much in just a month changed between them.

One by one Ash and Pikachu delivered the flyers to each floor, and with every floor, trainers bombarded him with questions for information about the festival. It got so bad that Pikachu had to shock a few people with Thunder Bolt to get them to ease off.  
But it was the same story for every floor, and made the whole entire situation last much longer than it should have.

Leaving the Battle Tower in a frustrated huff, Ash wasn't looking forward to training with erratic Aura user. Slowly he walked towards the forest with a sour look on his face as the sun slowly turned from bright yellow to a violent orange.  
Arriving in the training field, the first thing our hero noticed was that Jed was nowhere in sight. "That's just great." He mumbled. "First not telling me the answer, then he decides to bail out on me."

"I didn't bail out." Jed voice innocently came from behind. This startled Ash and Pikachu causing them turn around and glare at Jed and yelled at him for sneaking up in them. The Aura Philosopher arched an eyebrow in response. "Don't give me that look. I was sitting over at the trees nearby the entrance waiting for you. Rule number 25 in Aura training Ash: Never assume anything on a first glance."

Ash's frustration, though still irritated, deflated. "Right sorry… so are you—"

"Going to answer your question?" Jed predicted. "Yes I am. Sit down Ash, what I am about to tell you will not only help you with your Ability but also with dealing with difficult situations in life. So clean your ears and pay attention, this is important."  
Both trainers sat down and Jed took a deep breath before speaking. "Alright, you said you have two of the three happy emotions discovered right?"

"Yeah… I do. Why is that important?" Ash asked, eyebrows arched.

"I had the same problem when I too was learning at your stage. So I thought to myself, what is happiness? So I divided it into three general objects that made it up for three happy memories." He raised his index fingers. "Here what I came up with, one was joy; the pure feeling of something good happening, whether it is about you or around you. Now can you tell me a memory that represents that?"

Ash's eyes perked up. "Of course, that would be the first day I became a Pokémon trainer! It was when I met Pikachu! It was certainly wild, remember buddy?" He asked the electric type.

"Pika Kachu pi Pikapi." Pikachu giggled remembering that day.

"Yeah… during that time I wouldn't have thought it as a good day… now that I look back, it was probably the best day of my life. I wouldn't trade anything for it in the world."

Jed nodded approvingly. "Yes that is a very good memory. So you got joy down, now the second one is usually made up of several things, excitement, victory, and accomplishment. All of these are made up of many memories but the affect is still the same. Now from what Anabel has told me, you're an accomplished Pokémon trainer. You must have quite a few moments like that, no?"

And of course Ash did, from the time he reached the top of the Orange League to when he finally defeated Paul; all his victories and his exciting adventures the beheld legendary Pokémon of every region. They gave him drive and endurance for his goal to become a Pokémon Master.

"Judging from your silence and dazed look, I assume that to be a yes." Jed spoke up snapping Ash out of his stupor. "Alright, you have two of the three down like I did. But now here comes the hardest and trickiest of all the elements of happiness. And this is the one that will take you a week or more to figure out."

"So what is it?" Ash wondered. What could be so hard to figure out that it needed to take a week to know?

"Ah… that my friend is love."

"Pika?"  
"Love?" They both asked.

"Yep love, and I am not talking about any kind of love here."

"Wait; there are different types of love?" Ash asked densely. He never knew much about love, it was actually a very foreign subject. Sure he helped a few people who were in love with each other (And he still hated cross dressing!) but it never really occurred to him that he would have to know about it.

Jed looked amusingly at Ash. "Of course. All sorts of love exist, it's not all that sappy stuff that everyone supposedly says they have. There is the love you feel for your friends or your partners, like you and Pikachu."

"Pika chu."The Mouse Pokémon agreed.

"That's right and there is the love that you feel for a parental figures or guardian. And there is even a type of love that goes beyond the normal boundaries of what humans know as the emotion."

"What's that?" Ash asked curiously.

Jed scratched his head. "Well… it's a bit confusing really. No one really comprehends it, not even I. But what I do know is that it is a love for everything good… to love something so precious and purely… no… I should say it the way to love things perfectly or… perfectly as humans can. I believe this is how I love." Jed said with a light smile.

"Can you explain a bit more?" Ash asked as politely as he could. Though confusing as the topic was, it was a chance to get to know the Aura Philosopher more and maybe see if that what he himself knew.

"Well… I... I love to make people smile. I love to make them happy, and their happiness makes me happy as well. Bringing joy and mercy to others whether deserving or not gives me such a feeling of great… great affection for others." Jed blinked. "Bah! Look at me going all sappy. Sorry Ash, we're here to talk about you not me. And no offense Ash but I don't think you get the same thrill that I do when making people happy."

"What do ya mean by that?" Ash glared at Jed. "I like making people happy as well!" He had helped tons of people too.

"Hehe, settle down Ash, I didn't mean to offend you." Jed smirked. "But for me, making people happy is my life. I am a willing servant for others, so long as I can make their lives better. Tell me if I'm lying when I say that you are not like that?" Jed knew that Ash held to much pride and honor to give up his goal as a Pokémon Master. Meanwhile Ash was thinking about something else Jed said.

"Why did you call yourself that?" He asked.

"What?"

"A servant?" Ash said. Jed didn't look like a butler or a custodian.

"Ahhh… I didn't expect you to understand. Your still a young kid (hey!) but be glad for that. The reason why I am a servant is because I am not one of the people that are going to change the world. I am a teacher, a supporter, a warrior and a thinker. But I am not a speaker, a leader, a general or an activist, that's people like you and Anabel." Jed gestured to Ash. "As you go out to the world to put your mark on it, I will be standing in the back observing. The only thing I can do is pass down knowledge to the leaders and hope they will use to make the world a little more decent place to live in."  
The white haired boy glanced at Ash who was in deep in thought. He didn't mean to go in a philosophical debate with the younger trainer. _'Ah well.'_ Jed thought. _'What Ash does with this knowledge is up to him.'_ Silence passed the two once more until Ash spoke up again.

"So… how will I know which love to pick?" Ash asked, wisely keeping his thoughts to himself and going on with the lesson.

"Well… that depends, what do you find your affections going to?" Jed answered his question with another question. "Think hard. What do you find important in your life?" The younger trainer delved deep in his mind for the answer. All of this was so confusing and hard; like Jed said, love was a tricky subject and he didn't know where to start.

Luckily for him Jed offered more of an explanation. "When you love things or people it usually because it made you happy… supported you when you were down; something that you can be yourself with it and never has to hide anything." Jed paused a bit. "That's the politically correct version of love but… can I tell you my definition?" He asked cautiously.

Ash looked up. "Well, I'm certainly not getting anywhere on my own." He scowled at himself. "Shoot."

Jed smiled softly as though remembering an old memory. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres." Jed smiled pointed to his heart. "And that is what I believe is love. And if you find someone or thing that gives you those aspects, then you know where to look." He said before looking towards the sky. "But look at the time, it's already getting dark. Heh, all I seemed to accomplish today was bore you with my philosophical ideas of life." He chuckled sarcastically as he stood up.

"That's not true." Ash said also standing up and setting Pikachu back on his shoulder. "I thought what you said was very helpful actually."

Jed glanced at Ash and Pikachu as they walked down the darkening forest path. "Hmmm… well it's only helpful if you make it that way Ash Ketchum."

"Pika-achu?"  
"What do you mean?" They both asked.

"Knowledge means nothing without the will to act Ash. All humans and Pokémon are given free will to choose their actions and their path; only you can decide whether you act on it or not." They reached Anabel's house but the lights were still off signaling that the Salon Maiden was not at home. "I want you to think about this for the next day because this is where I take my leave. Until you know what the three happy memories are, I shall not be around."

Ash furrowed his eyes. "Why?" He asked simply.

Jed smiled. "Well for one is that I believe that I am too much of a distraction to you. You ask too many questions and I talk far too much."

"Didn't you say that it was important to ask questions?" Ash smirked.

This made Jed grin widely. "Ahh… so you were listening and not just hearing. And you're right. Keep asking question but also know when to ask them." He continued. " And two, it's important that you learn to do this by yourself. Remember Ash, there will be times in life where you may find yourself alone, you must learn to rely on yourself before that happens alright?" Ash and Pikachu nodded, agreeing. "Alright then, hope I see you before the week's end Ash. Toodle-loo and good luck on making dinner for Anabel." The aura philosopher called as he walked away waving at our heroes.

Ash and Pikachu waved back. "Just you wait, by the end of this week you'll be teaching me that new technique!" Then something occurred to him. "Wait a second Pikachu… how did he know that I was making dinner for Anabel?" At that moment they both could've sworn they heard a faint echo of Jed's laughter.

"Pika…" The electric type was at lost for words.

* * *

Not much happened after that, Ash continued his duties as Anabel's … 'apprentice' (cough* _servant*_cough) the day after. His mind was busy deciphering his memories of situations that fit Jed's description. Unfortunately, most of it was concerning Pokémon Battles and Gym matches. It then occurred to Ash just then that he had a very one track thought process. _'Man… I need to branch out more.'_

Jed was not there, indeed keeping his word on having Ash do things himself. Since he was out of the picture, Ash decided to ask Anabel what she thought of love.  
But the thought of doing that made him… eh, uncomfortable. He knew that Anabel was smart and would be willing to help him out but… she was a girl… and eeeeaa… the subject was love and they… they get weird with these type of things.

But a small part of him remembered that Anabel… wasn't your average girl. So the day before the Cobalt Port Festival, Ash was training Bulbasaur trying to get Vine Whip to lash out even faster as Anabel was teaching Absol about Perish Song. Besides dodging the attack was fun and helped him keep his mind of a certain subject. But when they finished, Ash knew that sooner or later he had to ask.

"So ah… Anabel… what do you know about love?" He decided to ask the direct approach, no sense beating around the bush he reasoned. Though he started to regret it as he watched her as she oddly seemed to freeze up. Her limbs stiffened and she didn't turn around to answer.

"Why do you want to know? Anabel asked him, trying to keep her voice even. Her insides were racing with questions. Why did he want to know this? Why was he asking her for that matter?

"Ehh… Jed told me to ask you…" he fibbed not knowing he was condemning a certain white haired boy.

Indeed, Anabel was seething. _'I'mGonnaKillHim! I'MGonnaKILLHIM!'_ Anabel mentally promised herself.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Pokémon center not too far away, Jed kept sneezing. "AACHOOOO!"

"Are you alright?" The Nurse Joy of the Pokémon center asked him. Jed waved her off.

"No… achoo! I'm… alright… achooo!" With the last sneeze he fell off the chair. "Ow. Gosh, I feel like my sneezes are going to kill me!" He attracted many odd stares that day.

* * *

"Anabel?" Ash asked from behind tapping her shoulder. This luckily snapped her out of her killer thoughts.

"Oh… what… huh?" she asked in a confused daze suffering from the overdose of bloodlust.

"Can you answer my question?" He asked warily. Judging by the chill in the air, Anabel was currently giving cold vibes. "Please." he added.

Anabel shook the rest of the feeling off. "I …I …don't really know…" She said uneasily. "What do you want to know?"

"Just your opinion…" He was still being cautious about her.

Her eyes furrowed; just her luck that her opinion concerned the boy right next her. Taking a deep breath and tried to answer as calmly and truthfully as possible. "Love is… a tricky subject… normally people can't recognize it at first. Sometimes we don't know if the feeling is love or…" she silently gulped. "or just great liking. What I do know about love is that, it's very confusing. But that's all know really; sorry I can't be more help."

"It's alright."

X

Nothing else happened that day except that Anabel seemed to unintentionally avoid Ash. It didn't set well with him for some reason.

Then the day of the Bond Festival came; Anabel, Ash and Maron were rushing all over the Battle Tower to have it closed early for it. The morning was a bundle of confusion and chaos, especially when Pikachu found the ketchup. But when noon came, Anabel received a package when the two were walking back to her house.

"Deli delibird!" a voice came from the sky.

Both trainers, Pikachu and Espeon looked up to the sky to see the white and red bird Pokémon heading towards them. Silently the two and their Pokémon looked at each other, confused to why the Delibird would be heading their way. That was until Anabel snapped her figures figuring it out. "That's Tuckers project for you, Ash. He must've just finished it."  
She addressed the delibird who just pulled out a thick brown parcel tied together with brown string. "How much do I owe you?"

The Delibird waved its wing dismissing her. "Deli deli."

"Already paid for?" She said out loud. "I'm guessing Tucker was the one?"

"Delibird li." It puffed out its chest proudly. Ash didn't know what this meant but Anabel who was already better at understanding these things got the message.

"Ah… I didn't know Tucker had a delibird. Well then, the least I can do is give you something to eat for the way back, alright?" She took the Pokémon's wing and led it to the house to give it food for its journey.

"Alright here you go." She handed the delivery Pokémon some special banded flying type food. The delibird was grateful for such a gift, giving her a hug by wrapping with wing awkwardly around her neck. "Hehhe… okay." Anabel laughed good naturally patting it.

After it flew off, Ash went to see what was contained inside the package, but just before he could reach it Anabel swiped it out of his grasp. "Hey why did you do that?" Ash complained trying to reach for it even though Anabel just kept it firmly out of his way.

"Uh uh. You're not getting this yet. I still need to tell you what the Bond Festival is."

"Okay then, tell me." Ash demanded light heartily.

Anabel laughed. "Not yet, we need to get something to my house for the Pokémon first. Then when you help me, I will tell you."

"Why do you always bargain with me Miss Anabel?" Ash mockingly acted like he was offended. "Have I not proven my worth time and time again?"

Anabel smirked while walking away. "Oh, yes… but whenever I'm not around, you always manage to find a way to get in trouble. It's obvious that I need to continually chaperon you for your own good."

The friendship between the two trainers had grown to the point where they knew how to act around each other, what to say and when to say it. They talked about their likes and dislikes and often joked about each other's mishaps. It was weird for Ash at first because he wasn't use to such a way of treating others… Brock came close but he was still more of a brotherly figure.  
Anabel however was his equal, who matched him in every field but she wasn't any Richie. She had her own strengths and weakness, and some were different then Ash's but that didn't take the away the fact that Anabel could match him evenly in the battle field and was possibly the closest person Ash got to know in a matter of just a month. He traveled with Misty for two year for crying out loud and he still didn't know how she was supposed to act.

What Anabel wanted to get from the house was a big- no- huge card board box. Extremely heavy, they both strained their muscles to even lift the thing off the ground, let alone carry it to the training field.  
After barely making a few feet from the house, both trainers let go and collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

"This… this… isn't working heh…" Anabel laughed, gasping for breath. She turned to Ash who stared dazed up the sky; carrying the box was such hard work that his brain shut off.  
"Ash?"

He blinked. "Oh sorry… Anabel. Hey… I was wondering why don't we have our Pokémon help us out… y'know since it's the festival of humans and Pokémon… shouldn't they help out as well?"

"I agree… but I don't think Rook would be willing to carry it. And last year by psychic types already pulled their weight… do you have any that could help?"

Ash thought about it, snapping his figures when he found out the perfect candidate. "Of course, Torterra could carry this easily. Wait here till I get him." Anabel watched Ash ran towards the woods with an excited look on his face.

Like Ash, Anabel had got to know the Pikachu trainer a lot more than she could ever hope for. She learned that he was not a picky eater and loved to travel much. He loved to make everything as fun as possible, but lately had been trying to calm down in serious situations_. 'Ash Ketchum, your certainly are an interesting person.'_ She thought standing up in order to stretch her stiff back. _'Hopefully, you think the same for me as well.'_ She thought the last part with a small frown. Despite that the fact she got to learn about him, she still didn't know if he thought of her in such a way that was… well… more than friends.  
The Salon Maiden knew he wasn't as dense as he used to be when she first met him; maturity showed through more than just his physical properties. At times Ash was very insightful and willing to handle things in an adult away; but that didn't mean that he grew affection for her.

_Switching to Pokémon translations…_

"Watcha thinking about Anabel?" Pikachu asked. He hadn't noticed her silence until now; he was trying to pry information from Espeon about the Cobalt Port Festival, but the Sun Pokémon refused to even give a hint.

"Just thinking about my battle against life. It's quite possible that he'll never know… he probably only has affection for Misty." She said lacking any trace of jealousy as she was understanding to why that could be. Ash had told her of his travels and his companions, and it would be no surprise to her he fell for one of them. Pikachu knew about Anabel's feeling for Ash as he was told by Absol after an event that involved a missing Poke'Ball, a ticked off Purugly, a confused Nidoking, and several hours of gasping in disbelief. But that is a tale for a different time*.

He snorted when Anabel said this. "What makes you say that?"

The Salon Maiden sat back down with a sigh. "Well, from what I have heard, Misty was very close to Ash. She even spent two whole years traveling with him; I would not be surprised at all if his heart belongs with her."

"And you'll be okay with that?" Espeon asked her trainer in disbelief.

Anabel smiled sadly. "I would be sad… but if I love him the way I believe I do… then I'll still be there to encourage him when he needs it." The dedication in her voice left no doubt in the Pokémon's mind that she was always there to support Ash.

Hearing this Pikachu patted the girl on the arm. "Don't worry about it. Ash was way too dense to notice any affection any girl threw at him back then. And now that he's going through the human's version of our evolution (**A/N: Puberty)**, then I'm sure he'll be head over heels for you soon!"

Espeon quirked an eyebrow(?). "You're sure about that? I'm not saying that you Anabel aren't special but… what makes her so different than any other girl he's traveled or come across?"

"Hmmmm…" Pikachu scratched his chin thinking about it. "Well, first off is that Anabel doesn't scream at Ash. Another thing is that… Ash… acts a bit different around you…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he seems to… I dunno… grow up a bit. He listens to you, depends on you… willingly. And he seems enthusiastic to go places with you. It like the relationship is balanced."

What he said was true Anabel thought, but that still didn't convince her that Ash thought of her any more differently than the other girls. "But that still didn't answer my questions… I only have Ash's view of the girls from his travels… how am I any different from them? I mean from what he said, they are all strong dependant women who-… Pikachu why are you laughing?" The electric type was in a fit of giggles on the ground; as he clutched his stomach, he tried to speak.

"Ash thought them as independent? HA! Please most of them had Ash to teach them and Misty… oh don't get me even started on her! H ha ha ha!"

"I thought you like them?" Anabel asked confused to why Pikachu was acting this way.

"Oh yes, I liked them all very much, especially Misty. But please, they were not as strong as you believe. Dawn and May knew nothing on Pokémon and often had Ash teach them the most basic of thing. First night sleeping under the stars they squealed in terror at every little noise. Sure they had their strengths but in reality they depended on Ash and Brock to help them out most of the time.  
And even though Misty, was the first girl we met… she wasn't really much… different. Sure we knew more about her… how she often got hammy-downs from her sisters, how her sisters left her out of things, how she wanted to become the world's greatest water Pokémon trainer, and other things like that. But she also was dependant on Ash and Brock as well, even though Ash was just a kid at that time."

"I take it, that there was much conflict?" Espeon asked.

Pikachu grinned widely. "Oh you bet there was. Ash was an absolute idiot as a kid, Misty who was only about 2 years older, was also a bit stupid, only to a lesser degree. Now don't get me wrong. I really do like Misty, in fact, next to Ash, she _was_ my most favorite person"

"Was?"

"Well… Anabel, I must say that you're taking that place. But their personalities were so similar that they butted heads a lot, often for over stupid reasons with Misty winning most of them through brute force… and the hammer… don't ask."

"So what you're saying is that despite of what Ash thought… they were all really dependant on him and he was too dense to notice." Anabel concluded.

Pikachu nodded. "Yep, that about sums it up—" his ears twitched. "Oh I hear Ash coming, everyone act innocent!"

_Switching out of Pokémon translations…_

* * *

Together they managed to heave the box on Torterra's sturdy shell, who easily carried it to the training field. Ash who couldn't contain his excitement anymore, opened it immediately only to find—

"Costume props?" He took out a huge black afro wig, way too big for his head. Now that he looked closely, most of these items were either too big or too small to fit any human.

Anabel giggled taking out more of them. Her Pokémon were reacting strangely to the props. "Yes, and now I tell you the best part of the Bond Festival. Pokémon dress up as humans and humans dress up as Pokémon. These-" She addressed the props. "Should be enough for all of our Pokémon to a least have one article of clothing."

Ash eyes brightened. "This is going to be so much fun! I never knew that we had to do that."

"Well help me pass these out."

The items seemed endless as they handed them out to each Pokémon.

Torterra received the big black afro. Gible got a small yellow rain coat. Staraptor was handed a pair of flying goggles. Bayleef got a flower necklace, with Septile getting a leather jacket. Infernape attired himself with boxing gloves, and Buizel got some similar item which was boxing tape. Noctowl, showed off her stuff with a string of pearls draped across her neck, Totodile settled for some swim shorts with Galie having belts surround his body. Muk settled for a dark cloak that was able to fit his shifting body. Donphan held a cargo belt around him, Quilava shuffled around in some boots and Torkoal wore a train conductor's hat.  
Swellow showed off to the others of his new fedora hat, Corphish liked his whistle, Heracross strutted his stuff with a new cowboy hat. Kingler, fitting to his name, wore a crown over his head. And Bulbasaur was happy enough with a blue cap.

Anabel's Pokémon also joined in as well, picking out the same outfits they wore last year. Rook wore his dark trench coat, Metagross was somehow able to wear boots on all of his four legs, and Alakazam wore a turbine over his head. Scizor and Beautifly both wore dresses with Cherim held tiaras on both of her heads. The newly evolved Drifblim cheerfully put on a pilots hat and Dratini looked adorable with his little bow tie. Luxray received a pair of glasses, which is ironic considering the Pokémon's X-Ray vision, the Shiny Kirlia got a top hat and the normal Kirlia got a headband with a big poofy feather on it and Absol wore an elegant clock with stars on it.

All the Pokémon looked cute but Ash noticed that there wasn't anything left for Espeon and Pikachu. He asked Anabel about this, believing that she had a plan. And like always she did.

"Don't worry, Tucker personally made Espeon's and Pikachu's costumes. Come on we'll put ours on at the house." But before they left she turned to her Pokémon. "Okay listen up everyone. Please help Ash's Pokémon on how we do things around here. And don't forget to meet us at the house at the first sign at of the sun setting, alright?"

The Pokémon made their signature noises understanding the instructions. Satisfied, Anabel turned to Ash and beckoned him home.

In his room, Anabel left him with the parcel attending to her own outfit that Tucker sent her earlier. Eagerly, Ash tore at the fragile paper, but gently enough not to harm the delicate costume inside.

"What's this?" He took out a shimmering red fabric that had such a texture that made it look like feathers. There were other items as well, some type of boxing tape, a white scarf with a hood. But that wasn't all, the last items were the most confusing, it was like someone made a miniature version of his Sinnoh outfit.

Taking it out, he handed it to Pikachu. "I think this is yours." The electric type looked at it curiously, before taking it in his paws. As Pikachu tried to figure out how to put it on, Ash looked at his own outfit.  
First he put on the main piece which was a long red piece with that covered his legs and chest with some yellow at both places. Then he put on the cream colored scarf, it covered the part of his chest, and flared out in two pieces on the back, the hood just covered his head. And the grey boxing tape fitted perfectly on the lower part of his arms and managed to cover his fingers as well. Once it was on Ash turned to the mirror in his room and was surprised to what he saw.

In the mirror he saw that the costume made him look like a Blaziken, not only that but he also saw what living at the Battle Tower for a month did to him. The sleeveless vest showed harden arms caused by his constant training with his Pokémon… and Rooks brutal beatings. They weren't overly muscled but showed that he wasn't a scrawny little kid anymore and an added bonus, he was taller too!. And his.. his hair… now that his hat was off, his hair showed that it had grown to it was almost covering his right eye. _'Heh… guess it shows how different I'm living now…"_

"Well, how do I look Pika… chu?" he was shocked to what he saw. His Pokémon managed to fit on his own costume and it was indeed with his Sinnoh cloths: hat, pants, shirt and even miniature shoes and gloves that fitted the electric type nicely.

"Pikachu Pikapi chu!" Pikachu saw what Ash was wearing; He was impressed at Tuckers design and how it fitted. The two of them gleefully admired each other's costume before Ash said that they should head back down.

"C'mon, let's see what Anabel and Espeon are wearing!" Ash said excitingly when Pikachu hopped on. Reaching down the stairs, they didn't see the Salon Maiden but they did see the psychic type wearing a miniature version of Anabel's formal attire. It really fitted her with the Sun Pokémon's lilac fur.  
Hopping down, Pikachu immediately stated to chat with her; probably complimenting on the costume or talking about the festival Ash thought, but his mind shifted elsewhere wondering where Anabel was.

"Espeon, do you know where Anabel is?" He asked her, but that soon became unnecessary.

"Ash I'm right here." Anabel's familiar voice called from behind him.

"Okay, so whe—" When Ash turned around, the words died from his throat at the sight.

Anabel was dressed as a Gardenvoir. A flowing white gown with green insides, her legs were covered by white stockings; looking closely one could see thousands of tiny crystals embedded on the dress, reflecting light and shimmering as to distort reality . On top she wore a green vest with arm extensions covering over her hands with the ralt's evolution family's signature red 'horns' protruding from her chest and back. And somehow, the Salon Maiden was able to get her lavender hair to match Gardenvoir's style.

Seeing this made our hero's blood rush faster; his heart almost pounding against his rib cage. To him she… she looked so pretty. Anabel was so amazing looking that he felt his ears heat up. "You… you look… great!" He blurted out. His face flushed with red when she looked away shyly with a small smile on her lips.

"You really think so?" Anabel asked, a small blush forming on her own face. Ash did nothing but nod not trusting himself to speak as his brain seemed to died out. Quickly he shook his head, trying to focus on what his previous question was.

"So… uh… whe—when do we head out?"

"Right now." Anabel answered calmly. She was about to head out the door before throwing out one last word. "By the way Ash… you look very handsome."

* * *

The two trainers walked on the path to Cobalt Port with all of their Pokémon out following behind them. While the creatures were talking, the two humans walked in silence as the sun was setting. For the first time since Ash met her, he felt… well awkward. There was a welding feeling inside of him that seemed to be jabbing at his brain. Anabel was similar, only she knew what the feeling was and wanted to give Ash some space. What she said only moment ago took an abundant amount of courage.  
Yet both of their worries and awkward tension came to a halt when their eyes fell on Cobalt Port.

It was drastically different from what the town normally looked like. Everything was bright and colorful. Light's, paper lanterns, and Will-o-Wisp caused from Ghost Pokémon floated over the place, illuminating it. Posters, flags, kites, and statues that were brightly colored and beautifully made, decorated the tiny town into what seemed to look more like a luscious court yard of a fine palace. But all of this seemed to pale in comparison to the residents.

As Anabel said, people were suppose to dress up as Pokémon and Pokémon as people, but everything was so richly done. Pokémon were outfitted in clothes that fitted but not limited to business people, miners, scientist, ace trainers, reporters, cameramen, school clothes and to even some gym leaders.  
And the people had to be dressed all sorts of Pokémon. The residents were very creative getting the structures of the Pokémon. They managed to look like the rocky structure of the Rock –types such as Geodude, Sudowoodo, Rhydon, and other popular rock types. There were people dressed as squitles, charizards, dunesparce, luxrays, hunters, flygons butterfrees and some many other.  
For particular long Pokémon, multiple people gathered under a large costume for Gyarados and Steelix.

"It just gets better!" Anabel exclaimed. Without wasting any more time the group separated to see all the activities they could get into. There were stales lining the streets, all offering games for prizes, exotic items to buy and especially delicious food and treats for everyone.

The games stales were really fun, both humans and Pokémon could try their hands against them. Like when Ash and Rook were both trying to see who could score a bull's-eye in first by throwing baseballs at the targets. Needless to say that Rook won and picked out a Gyarados kite from the Weedle dressed owner. Then the Blaze Pokémon offered to Anabel who joyously accepted the gift.

To cheer Ash up though, the two humans decided to check out what some of the stales were selling. One of them sold wonderful drawings of Pokémon which was being operated by an Absol dressed owner, ranging from drastically realistic to wonderfully cartoonish versions.

"Wow even Tracy would be impressed by these." Ash said to Anabel as they observed a cool Pikachu illustration.

"Well I'm glad you think so Ash." A familiar voice came from inside the stall.

Both trainers' eyes widen recognizing the Absol dressed owner. It was Jed.

"Wha—who the—" Ash stammered as Jed smirked.

"What, did you think you could get rid of me so easily." The aura philosopher laughed.

Anabel who was a bit calmer interrogated him. "What are you doing here Jed? Ash told me you were going to be out of our hair for a while."

Jed smirk widen even farther. "Well Miss Anabel, I should have said that I wouldn't be around you guys as a teacher. As for why I am here… I'm just making a profit. What else am I suppose to do?"

Both trainers deadpanned by his bluntness. But that didn't seem to bother the white haired teen. "So do you guys want to buy something or are you just going to stand there?"

Ash crossed his arms. "Yeah… how much for the Pikachu picture?" Ash asked trying not to grit his teeth. Jed was a nice guy- but there was something his attitude that was just cheerfully annoying.

"Well that particular picture took me several days to draw, so for a normal price it would be 20,000 Poke'Dollars."

"20,000 POKE"DOLLARS?" Ash exclaimed. "Isn't that robbery?"

"Heh… but for you guys, and the fact that Ash here loves his Pikachu very much… I'm willing to lower the price to 5,000… sound alright?"

Anabel smiled kindly. "You don't have to do that. I could afford it easily."

Jed smiled back. "But I wouldn't be a gentlemen if I put it a full price for a couple like you. Besides, there's more to see and more to buy. Don't waste all your money on me."

Seeing as there was no arguing with him, Anabel handed him the money but was stopped by Ash who handed his own money to Jed instead.

"I'll pay for it." Ash said when she looked at him. "It's my duty as a… gentlemen." He handed the money to Jed who took it in exchange for the picture which was now rolled up in a small plastic tube.

"Thank you for doing business with me. As for an added bonus, no extra, charge here's a hint to were to go next. Two stalls down from here they sell the most delicious apple cider and hot chocolate in the world for a very cheap price. Go there immediately before anyone else gets a whiff of it." But then he grimaced. "But be careful on the next street on the stall at the end of the corner, they sell very supecious pies that I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot poll. Steer clear in my opinion." Then his frown turned to a very wide grin. "Au revior! Have a nice night!" He waved them off.

Surprisingly the two found Pikachu and Espeon over at the drink stand, helping themselves to steaming hot cups of apple cider. They bought two canteens, containing both the hot chocolate and the cider to share with their Pokémon.  
Now with their partners, they looked all over the town, sometimes seeing their Pokémon and random places. There were also a few other familiar faces as well.  
Dr. Erik was dressed as a Ninjask and Sept from the Battle Tower was an entei.

Everything was great fun and held in the town square were competitions. Sometimes they were for Pokémon, humans and sometimes both. There were also wild Pokémon who joined in randomly as well. But the final competition everyone was waiting for was the Costume contest. Anabel and Ash meeting with the rest of their Pokémon waited eagerly for the announcement coming up.

The mayor dressed as a Torkoal costume walked up the stage ready to tell the winner of the year. "And this year's winner is…" He paused for suspension; the whole town held their breath waiting to be told. "IS OLD MAN GIBO!" Ash and Anabel sighed in disappointment but clapped with everyone for the winner.

It was no surprise to see why Old Man Gibo won; dressed as a golem, the elderly man look exactly like one. His dark arms thick and wrinkly and a rocky shell covered him, only his looked human, but even that almost had the snout that golems had.

And then music started to play. Joyful cheerful music, the type you would hear in folk tales and stories. The people around Ash started to dance merrily, both human and Pokémon paring up with a partner. He felt a tug at his costume and looked up to see Anabel with her eyes shimmering and looking more happy than she had ever been.

"Dance with me!" She said.

"But- but I" But she didn't wait for an answer as she swept him along.

"You don't need to know how to dance, just let your emotions guide you." And so he did, engrossed by the music and festivity, Ash went along with the flow, following the patterns of the dance, sometimes switching partners and going back to Anabel a few seconds later. The two trainers both laughed, enjoying each other's company as they danced around the tiled floor, weaving in and out of the other couples doing the same.

This was fun! This was exciting! He loved doing it Anabel-

And then something occurred to Ash right then and there as he watched Anabel twirl in her dress. Of what Jed said what love was.

He could find that every one of the aspects of Jed's definition of love was right here at his time at the Battle Tower. Everything was so wonderful here and it was the best time he ever had. The sights, the lessons, the people, the Pokémon and … and Anabel.

'_I love being here with my Pokémon and Anabel.'_ Ash realized as a sudden rush of emotions, so clear and so sure, rushed through him.

"What's the matter Ash?" Anabel grinned with the Pokémon surrounding her.  
"Pikapi pi?"  
"Espe Espeon?"

With widen eyes and a big smile he said to them. "I just found out the last happy memory."

End of Chapter 13

* * *

**Yes… oh yes!**

**FINALLY!**

**So I really hoped this was an okay chapter! I mean I through in a couple of wild cards here but I think it was worth it.**

**So to talk about some subjects I want to ask you guys a few questions to post on your reviews. Be honest with me, I won't judge you.**

**Jed. I made an OC. Very dangerous work. But I tried to make him as natural as possible. Please tell me your opinion about him.  
Do you like him, do you want him out of the story never to show his face again? Do you want him to be a continual character, not being the main but a good supporting character? And no Jed will not be a love interest for Anabel. He is simply here to help, not make more conflict.**

**I have to say, Jed is a bit based on me. I am somewhat of a smart aleck. But nice all the same. Please tell me what you think.**

**I did mention up there on how Pikachu found out about Anabel's feeling. Do you want me to write another chapter on that? It will be a Poke' adventure. I can also make it a singular story on the author's page as well if you like.**

**Also if any wants to use the theories on the fires of battle or how Aura works feel free.**

**Please tell me how you feel and if you guys have any questions at all, feel free to ask, I will answer them to the best I can.**

**Also I still accept constructive criticism.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**I do love you guys!**

**Sincerely True-InTha-Blue.**


	14. Breaking density! and certain limbs

**Hi…. **

**I SO SORRY ABOUT THE LATE UPDATE!**

**I have been busy and going through a writers block!  
But that is no excuse, I am very sorry about all of this. But I hope this makes it up to you.  
This chapter is a bit short.**

**Anyway, this is part 2 of the turning point of the story. Ash is going through some issues One more part and…**

**Well you'll see.  
Any way thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews, please do not hesitate to ask any questions about the story, please ask whether via review of Private message.  
Thank you and please enjoy chapter 14!**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

**x**

From One Side to Another  
By True-InTha-Blue  
Chapter 14  
Breaking density!… and certain limbs

(First month and first one and a half week after the initiation)

"Well congratulation Ash. You now officially have an Aura Anchor!" Jed peered at the trainers faces with curiosity. "Though I must say… that is a particular place to put an anchor at…"

Ash grinned widely. "Thanks! But I really have to give you and Anabel credit as well! Without you guys I wouldn't know what to do at all." He addressed his two friends in front of him. He pointed to his right eye. "But… ah, do you think it looks weird?" No longer did he have two pure amber eyes. Now one of them slightly glowed a brilliant blue, the colors swirling with it told of the incredible aura powers.

The other two shook their heads. "It doesn't look weird." Anabel said. "But if you want to keep people from staring… I suggest you grow out your hair long enough to cover a bit of it."

Ash along with Pikachu shrugged. "I'll think about it. But now that I have an anchor now what do we do Jed?" Ash asked excitingly.  
Though before Jed could answer, Pikachu interrupted. "Pika pi pi chu kachu?"

Both males looked at Anabel for translation. "Pikachu is wonder does an anchor affects the body part where it is placed?"

Jed smiled. "Actually it does my little yellow friend. See now Ash can easily access Aura Sight since he put it in his eye. And I can easily use an Aura sphere with my left hand." Jed dead panned a bit. "Not that it helps mind you."

"Why?" The younger kids asked causing the white haired teen to blush red in embarrassment.  
"Well… ah you see… I'm not very powerful…" He said sheepishly. When the two and Pikachu gave him a confused look he sighed. "It's harder for me to do Aura… well no, that's not right. It's harder for me to do thing in the field of Expelling which is your basic Aura moves: Aura sphere, manipulation, physical manifestation… things like that."

"But there are other fields right?" Anabel asked. The boys' quirked eyebrows at her, wondering where she got this knowledge. "What? Just because I don't have Aura doesn't mean I don't like to learn about it?" She defended.

"Well yes… there are different fields of Aura usage. Two main ones… and a whole lot of sub categories. But you don't have to bother with the small stuff Ash." Jed addressed Ash's worried look. "The two main groups are Expelling and Introverting." He explained that Introverting is his specialty as it deals with Aura enhancing your abilities and senses. "But enough of that. Since we have finished step number one: the mentally exhausting part, now we can finally go on to step two."

"And that is…"

"The excruciatingly painful part!" Jed said cheerily.

The younger boy's eye twitched in annoyance and fear. Leave it to Jed to be excited about something like this. Though Ash would never say it out loud, he believed that Jed was nine berries short of a poffin. "Why does it have to be painful?" He grumbled despite that he knew that something like this could happen.

"Because it fun!" Jed said in a sing-song voice before he added. "That, and we need you to get adjusted to using Aura normally. Luckily I have system already developed to help you with that." Jed called out one of his Pokémon. "Nidoking Help out!" And in white light appeared a massive purple colored monster with spines sticking out of its body.

"Nidoking?" He asked his trainer what it was needed for.  
Jed smiled. "Time to help a new trainee ol'friend."

"Nice Nidoking Jed." Anabel spoke up as they walked to another side of the training field. "Finally found a moonstone to evolve him I see."  
Ash turned to look at her. "I'm guessing you battled him before?"

Jed rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, and like I said she beat me thoroughly." The Aura Philosopher was still sore of that particular lose, a bruise to his male ego in other words.  
He then presented to the two kids a type of contraption. Logs of all sizes hung from vines in rows. Currently they were vertical to the ground high up in the trees.  
Ash squinted his eyes; it didn't take a moron to see that he was required to dodge these things. But why oh why couldn't it be something softer our hero thought. "Let me guess, I have to wear a blindfold and try to get out of the way?" He asked with a bit of a grudge in his voice.

"Yep." Came Jed's reply stretching a band of cloth.

"Alright let's get this over with."  
"Pika… chu."

Jed showed Ash were to stand and instructed Nidoking to keep the logs going when they slowed down.  
"Aura sight is based on instinct rather than thought or the ability to analyze something so you should be good at this Ash. ("Hey!") Your goal for today though is to try to dodge at least two in a row. After you do that or when you get enough bruises, I'll teach you my special technique. Oh and Pikachu you might want to get out of the way." Jed warned.

The electric type looked cast a worried look at his trainer. "Pika… pika-chu." He said to Ash before leaping to next to the human pair.  
Jed gave his nidoking the signal; and with a might thump of its tail against the tree's the logs went swinging at various speeds.

"OOWW!" One log knocked Ash on the ground.

"OUCH!" Another one banged him against a tree.

"ARH!" Two longs smashed into him.

"Oh C'mon… OW!" Then remarkably after he dodged one by sheer luck, another one quickly rammed straight in his face.

The observers winced every time Ash was hit but did nothing to help. As this was his battle… that and they were trying not to open their mouths, at risk of releasing the pent of laughter that was building inside their chest at our hero's misfortune.  
Soon after a little while their entertainment died when the scenario kept repeating itself. Sighing Jed walked off unexpectedly; questioning his sudden actions Anabel followed him leaving Pikachu behind to watch the spectacle.  
"Where do you think you're going?" She asked with a quizled expression.

Jed simply glanced her way before saying. "I was going to head to your house to see if you have a book that you wouldn't mind me barrowing."

He didn't explain any more when they walked the silent path, but she was used to that. When she first met him last year, she knew how Jed acted.  
It was one of those situations that two people just instantly became friends.

She remembered that day with little difficultly.

It was an average evening when she was monitored her battle participants fighting each other. Then to her surprise, Maron showed up with a white haired teen behind him observing the surroundings.  
It was just a small two on two battle was all the Jed requested with the head of the Battle Tower. And she accepted sensing that he would provide a fun battle.  
No surprise, she won, taking Jed by surprise with her emphatic ability with her Pokémon. With great sportsmanship, the white haired teen accepted his lost and expressed his awe at Anabel's Ability.  
This soon led to a friendship. But unlike the one that she had with Ash that came from their similar passion about Pokémon and battles that soon developed into an emotion similar that of love; her friendship with Jed was born out of their joy of finding an intellectual individual of their similar taste of knowledge.  
As Jed wanted to learn about her Ability, she too wanted to know more about the world of Aura after he told her that he was an Aura philosopher.

Jed decided to stay for a week wanting to know more about her, and they talked about casual things, from Abilities, books and strategies.  
But Anabel learned even more things due to her powers to sense emotions. She learned that Jed was antisocial at best, quiet but had an unending curiosity. And that, even though everything was friendly between them, he was observing her and knew that she kept some from deep secrets.  
One day he confronted her about them, telling her that it would harm her if she kept them in. The Salon Maiden didn't tell him everything though and like a true friend accepted that with good graces.

And soon he left, leaving his Poke 'Navi number with her, in case she ever needed someone to talk to a 'just' friend.

Inside her house, he showed her what he wanted. The book was fairly worn, with a beat up leather bond cover and dog eared pages, it was obvious that Anabel had read this book, many, many times. "_The Exploration of Unova_." Anabel whispered softly taking the book out of Jed's hand, holding up to her face. Nostalgia passed in her eyes as she gazed on the cover that held worn out red and blue colors with runes of fire and lighting surrounding the title, though it did not tell of an author. "Why?" She asked him.

Jed shrugged simply. "I've been thinking of exploring this new region: Unova. If you wouldn't mind… I would like to barrow it for my journeys… after all it was written by the best." He said mysteriously, tipping his flat cap over his eyes.

"Is that what you think?" She said almost teasingly with a sad tone in her voice.

The Aura Philosopher smiled gently; the type of smile that suited a beloved grandpa than the youthful face of the teen. "I promise I'll take good care of it." He said while also silently speaking of things they both only knew.

Anabel handed the book back to him with a little bit of inner effort and watch him tuck it in his satchel with great care.  
"You like him don't you?" Surprise etched the younger girl's face when he said that; Anabel stuttered trying to figure out how could he know that. "I… I un … how?"

"They say that psychology is helpful to those who have Introverted aura." Jed said weirdly. "Besides… your eyes betray yourself too loudly to ignore."

"Is it really that obvious?" Anabel asked bitterly. This emotion was reasonable, after all the mental training she went through to hide her emotions. She shook her head in shame, always hated being weak.  
A gentle hand landed on her shoulder. Looking up she saw Jed smiling kindly toward her.

"Hey… keep your chin up. Bad memories only exist in the past, only you decide whether or not they affect your life. And for my advice about the kid… always be yourself. Loving a lie never does anyone any good" He left the Salon Maiden to her thoughts.  
Soon she smiled. _'He's right… besides I know better than to act like this. I've dealt with worse.'_

X

At the training area, both Anabel and Jed stood jaw-dropped in amazement watching Ash. He was dodging not one, not two or even three, but all of the logs. To add to the astonishment, Nidoking was struggling to swing the logs fast enough, trying to trip the trainer up but Ash just too fast for the swinging obstacles.  
Finally snapping out of shock, Jed told his Pokémon to halt the processes. When Ash noticed that he wasn't at risk of being hit he lifted the blind fold and glared at Jed.

"How do ya like me now?" He yelled confidently. The Aura Philosopher just stared in astonishment, wondering how this kid could learn Aura sight so quickly.

Anabel slightly nudged Ash in the ribs for his ego outburst. While Ash tried to apologize for this, Jed managed to collect his thoughts. "Geez o'pete kid! How the crap were you able to master this so fast?" He yelled out loud, but not angry, to the younger boy. " I mean I know you have advanced Aura sight but still… Took me at least two weeks to master that…" he mumbled to himself as he assisted Nidoking with taking down the logs.

"Good job Ash." Anabel complimented him. "Seems you a naturally talented Aura Guardian." She laughed slightly as he puffed out his chest in pride.

"Yep! I'll be a master in no time, right Pikachu?" He asked his buddy on the ground. A quick 'Kachu!" supported this as Ash turned back to a grumbling Jed. A tiny twinge of guilt filtered through his systems seeing that what took him only 30 minutes to master, took the more experienced Jed two weeks to be able to handle. _'I guess next time… it wouldn't hurt to be a bit more humble…'_ He thought before taking his thoughts of it. "So Jed ready to teach me that new technique?" Ash called out friendlily.

Jed, who was never one to hold a grudge… well at least to people he liked, smiled nicely. "All right Toros-boy. If you are so eager, let's do it now." He called out before he turned to the purple haired lady. "And Miss Anabel would you like to attend too? "

Anabel did a mock curtsey. "Well of course Sir Jed. Besides knowing you two boys, I better watch this in case someone might get hurts."

"Ooooo… she certainly burned you Jed."

"Hey she also included you too!"

"Pika Pi Pika!"

"Huh... you can say that again."

In the middle of the field Anabel, Ash and Jed faced off in a trio circle. In a flash, Jed showed his other Pokémon Froslass in the middle.

"Alright." Jed announced. "The lesson today is battling with your Pokémon to get strong—"

"Uh Jed?" Anabel raised her hand. "I already taught Ash that. Y'know since you taught me that before."

Jed spurted with indignity. "WAIT! What do you mean you've already taught him that?" He frowned. "Anabel… you don't just go around teaching people my secret techniques…" The white haired teen crouched down in shame; trying to figure out something new for this lesson while murmuring inconsistent and random nonsense.  
Ash and Anabel laughed at his fit. But when they made eye contact, Anabel blushed and turned away, much to the confusion of the other.  
"Fine." Jed huffed frustrated. "I tell you my other _SECRET_ technique. It's called Elemental Harmony."

"And that includes?" Ash struggled to contain his laughter at the Aura Philosopher's predicament; even the Pikachu and Froslass were visibly containing their giggles.

Another huff. "Well if you must know, it involves using the same elemental attacks to boost the other. Though it's not unlike your ingenious mixed methods Ash, but the difference is that this method is not something that should be used commonly, not for amatures and also sometimes has risk."

Saying this, the kids looked at him interestingly; as they were not amatures themselves they knew that the risk mostly involved of sacrificing health. This triggered some concern. "Jed." Anabel spoke up. "It it a bit abusive to use Pokémon like that?"

"Yes, in some aspects; which is why it is required for said trainer not to be a total noob. Trust is the most essential part of this technique; you need to talk to your Pokémon about doing this. But luckily Froslass and I have done this before. Ready Fros?"

"Fros-lass." She readied herself in a fighting stance.

"Alright start with an Ice Punch." Ice covered her draping arm. "Now add an Ice Beam." A solid beam of ice made the Ice Punch grow larger and larger, to the point we're started to glow a frosty aura. She held it high in pride and yet in her eyes, they winced with a tiny bit of pain, similar to that one would feel if they had a sticker in their shoe.

"The more attacks you add on, the more powerful the initial attack. But at the price of the more attacks, the harder is to control and the more strain on it."

Ash thought about this. "So basically it should be used for only one time."

"Yep. Guess you could call it a One Hit Wonder. Alright Froslass disperses the attack. You did a good job today." He said calling her back to the Poke'Ball. "Now go work on it. I'm heading back to the Pokémon center and try to think of more SECRET techniques… unless somebody already told everybody in the whole world!"

Anabel rolled her eyes. "You are such a drama queen." But when he left, this just left her with Ash alone once again.

Ash noticed this too and for some reason it caused a bit anxiety in him. "So… ah… have any more chores for me to do at the Battle Tower?" He said trying to break up a wall of tension that seemed to form around them.

Anabel shook her head. "Not really… I was hoping to groom the Pokémon today you can help if you would like but I need to go get the supplies." She said, leaving with her face as red as a scizor's for some unknown reason.

But she didn't seem to catch the worried double colored eyes on Ash who watched as she left. He sighed deeply wondering why she had… why he had been acting this way. He knew it wasn't the voice's fault (as that thing was silenced weeks ago), and normally he was an upbeat person… so why was he having strange… funny feelings about her?

Feeling something tug at his pants, Ash saw his buddy Pikachu, with Bulbasaur looking at him with concern dotting their faces.

"Bulba?" Bulbasaur as the peace-keeper of Professor Oak's lab, could easily sense his trainer's twisted emotions. Using vine whip he patted Ash's shoulder reassuringly, though he himself didn't know what was wrong.  
Despite of this, Ash smiled knowing that his Pokémon meant well. "Ah… it's nothing to worry about guys." He petted the electric and grass types' heads. "Just something I need to think about that's all." He frowned slightly though, when he did think about his own behavior. He was not stupid enough to not realize that something had changed in him after the festival. Things were… different now,,, and he couldn't tell if it was good or bad.

"What do you think of our time with Anabel guys… do you like this?" Both Pokémon nodded vigorously. _'Well that's a no brainer.'_ Ash smirked to himself. But it still didn't answer his question… why did he feel so different now?  
It wasn't like there was anything different physically, there had been no changes to anyone's attitude but it was like everything here at the Battle Tower seemed to have taken on a warm glow especially the Salon Maiden.  
Ash found himself actually missing her presence when she was away for short period of times and secretly rejoicing whenever she wanted to do things with him.  
_'BUT WHY AM I THINKING THIS WAY?'_ He screamed in his mind.

This train of thought carried through when Anabel came back with the supply. And while he waxed Torterra's shell, he kept glancing back at the purple haired girl as she laughed when trying to give her dratini a bath.  
x

"Hey Ash." Anabel called out to him. Said trainer looked up from Corphish's bubble bath to see her done with all of her Pokémon. When he asked her what's wrong he was surprised when she held up a Poke'ball with a simple phrase.  
"Wanna battle?"

Soon after a very excited response from both trainer, mouse and crab Pokémon alike, both trainer's where facing off with each other with the fire of competition burning in their eyes. Of course, Anabel had to stare down both Ash and Pikachu, who had his cheeks charged ready for action.  
"How bout this?" Anabel spoke. "We pick our each other's Pokémon to fight?"

Ash showed a feral grin. "Sounds like a challenge! Fine. You're going to battle with Scizor! I been wanting to see her in action."

"Pikachu!" The electric type agreed.

Anabel smirked. "Alright, fight me with Sceptile then! Show me that power that he demonstrated at the Ever Grande Conference!"

"Then you'll get exactly that, Sceptile let's show her what we can do!"

"Don't hold back my friend Scizor!"

Both white lights summoned the called Pokémon. And as soon as they hit the ground the battle was on; their trainers wasting no time to call out the attack.

"Sceptile use Leaf Blade!"

"Never hesitating to use the direct attack, huh Ash?"  
_'Scizor counter with_ _X-Scissor!'  
_Both Pokémon charged with ferocity; attacks glowing. The collision resulted in a cloud of gray smoke covering the field.

'_Here's my chance!'_ Both trainers though simultaneously. Acting first Anabel sent her commands.

'_Scizor flip out of there. And let's try something new! Use Silver Wind with Fury Cutter as soon as you see Sceptile!'_

From the other side of the field Ash saw the pincer-Pokémon come out to the open. And judging from her stance, he could tell that she was about to ready an attack.

'_Hmmm… Sceptile is still in there… and when the smoke clears or when he jumps out he'll be wide open for that attack… maybe… Ahah!'_  
"Sceptile make your Leaf Storm surround yourself!" From inside sinking cloud, leaves of energy shot out and started to storm violently in circles. Soon enough the veil cleared revealing the grass-type who was safely protected by the Leaf Storm Shield.  
"Now charge Solar Beam!" Ash commanded.

Even when faced with the combination of two strong attacks, Anabel nor Scizor never faltered.  
"Like I said! Face that head on!" She said out loud to her. The duel type's claws began to glow and then began to gain a silver sheen. With amazing speed, Scizor charged forth unwavering when the Leaf Storm energy began to attack her. And just when she was about to bring her claw down on Sceptile's head…  
A bright beam of concentrated sunlight shot forth from his mouth.

The field was enveloped in a bright sphere and then imploding outwards. The force sent Ash and Anabel skidding on their heels with Pikachu fling backwards as his little body couldn't handle it.

And to everyone's astonishment, both of their Pokémon where still standing. The battlers had forgone all method of attacks and had their fist (or claws) locked on another struggling to gain the upper hand.  
"Hey, hey! Guys knock that off!" Ash yelled at them to stop. But they just ignored him; this was a battle to see who had the stronger will as both Pokémon took immense pride in their strength. Even their attitudes were battling against each other; Sceptile's cool persona verses Scizor's fiery attitude!

"Scep..tiilll…"

"Scciii..zor…"

"Oh boy." Anabel exclaimed. "Here let me handle it." She told Ash holding him back. Slowly she approached the two Pokémon. Gradually she reached up to both of their heads and just like that they stopped their fighting and gave her both a reproachful stare. But in a moment they nodded before Anabel recalled Scizor. Ash did likewise with the grass-type before casting a glace that said 'What did you just do?'

Anabel smiled sheepishly. "Nothing much… just sent some soothing thoughts to them to make them stop. Look's they had developed a rivalry." She inwardly cringed when Ash and Pikachu stared at her with disbelief plastered over their faces.

"Piiii…"

"Dang… I didn't know you could do that." Ash said. In his duel eyes, the spark of curiosity and excitement began to ignite. "What else can you do?"

"Well… huh… Communicating, sensing emotions," She began to list them off of her fingers. "Summoning my Pokémon, telepathy and sending my own emotions to Pokémon… that's about it—"

"FURRETTT!" A voice came out from behind them. Immediately Anabel went into action, running towards it leaving Ash and Pikachu sigh from the interruption.  
The Long Body Pokémon was speaking frantically to Anabel who was struggling to interpret the normal type.  
Waving its arms frantically, the furret took to the forest with Anabel in tow. But before she disappeared into the greenery, she managed to tell Ash that she'll be back.

x

Ash kicked a pebble and huffed. Annoyance and boredom crossed his features. He had helped train all of his Pokémon today, he had asked Maron about any errands for the Battle Tower, _'Twice!'_ Ash added bitterly. And he battled at least 5 rookie trainers in it as well.  
It was all done in two hours and Anabel was still not back! Ash began to worry that something had happened to her, after all the furret seemed to be frantic about something.

'_But Anabel's a tough girl!'_ Ash reminded himself. _"Besides she doesn't like it when I treat her like a girly girl.'_  
He frowned again. That was another difference Anabel had about most girls he'd met, and another factor that just made this whole entire friendship so confusing!  
With Pikachu hanging out with Espeon, there was no one he could really talk about this to. Then again Pikachu had about much experience about him when it came to Anabel.

Ash needed someone who lived longer than him, and who knew more Anabel than about him; possibly someone like Maron and…  
Ash sighed in exasperation. "Why does everything go back that guy?"

x

A little while later…

"So let me get this strait, Miss Anabel left yeh to go and handle something and left with your confused little brain to yourself, and in panic you went to Maron who told he couldn't leave the tower and them reluctantly came to me to ask to get your thoughts strait… Did I get it all?"

Ash blinked. "Uh… yeah."

Jed shook his head. "I'm a bit busy at moment as you can see…" They both turned to the spectacle of Jed's Nidoking, Flygon and Froslass trying to balance on each other with difficulty. Of course as soon as the trainers looked at them, all the Pokémon fell in brilliant failure.  
Jed winced. "Well I was busy… Alright guys go take a break." He called out to his Pokémon before turning to Ash. "Looks like you caught me at the right time. Alright Ash, what do you want to talk about that involves Miss Anabel?"

He observed when Ash looked sheepishly and ducked his head a bit. "I… can't seem to figure out… my friendship with Anabel…" Ash shook his head. "It's like this strange element has been added in and I can't tell if it's good or bad. It's almost as—"

"Friendship is not enough?" Jed interrupted.

"Yeah…"

Jed smiled lightly. "Can I ask you this? Why does Anabel cause this? What is so special about her that is causing you so much anxiety?"

Ash frowned. "Well… I never met a girl like her… I mean when I was traveling around regions, I have met a lot of other girls and some even joined me on my journeys. But none have ever expressed such… I dunno… brilliance as Anabel has."

Jed smile got a bit bigger. "And what do you find in her that makes her so brilliant?"

Ash smiled a bit with his duel eyes were overcome with a soft look. "She's smart for one. A lot smarter than me, and she's funny; she has a nice laugh. And she also holds a huge passion for Pokémon and battling. I love the fact that she can communicate with Pokémon, and she has a lot of experience and good ideas when it comes to them." He took a deep breath. "She's kind to me, even when I mess up, and has been encouraging me even when I thought I should give up. Anabel, helped me with a difficult time and helped me over come it when I didn't even know I had a problem. …the Salon Maiden… she never gives up on you."

"That's for sure." Jed chuckled a bit. He let Ash sit in silence to collect his thoughts before going in for a kill. "Do you think she's pretty?"

The reaction was instant. The trainer's face blushed bright red before he started to sputter with indignity. "I-I uh… I-"

"Just answer the question."

"Yes…" He said shyly with the red on his face starting to get even brighter.

"And…" Jed edged on.

"And what?" This was the reason why he didn't first go to Jed. The man could drive anyone into annoyance and frustration.

"Why do you find her pretty?" Jed asked undeterred by Ash's outburst.

Ash huffed with embarrassment. "I do… because… well, I notice it!" He almost yelled. "I mean… I know that most girls are nice looking. But for some reason I actually notice it these days. Don't know why…But I just do." He paused before reluctantly saying. "She also smells nice."

"Have you ever felt this way for any other female before? What about the ones you've traveled with?"

Ash thought about May's and Misty's tomboy yet highly girly attitude and Dawn's pure girly attitude. "No." Was all he said.

Jed grinned. "Well there's your answer!" He said expecting Ash to get it. But our hero just sat there with a confused expression on his face.

"Uh… come again?"

The Aura Philosopher sighed while face palming himself. "You really are dense. Ash, you keep saying spending around Anabel that friendship is not enough. Please tell me that you're not naïve enough to say that you don't know what that means right?"

Ash frowned. '_I'm not that naïve! … But what if I am? What is he trying to say…'_

"Remember what I said about the last element of happiness?" Jed hinted.

And yet even with that said, it missed it's mark as Ash recalled what he said but didn't think more about it.  
Once again sighing, the white haired teen stood up to leave. "Think about what you are feeling. It will come to you Ash—" He was interrupted when Ash's Poke 'Navi started to ring.  
With out hesitation he whipped it out and read the text message that was sent to him.

_Ash,  
Please bring come to the forest and bring Espeon and Pikachu with you. I need your help as there is a problem with the local wild Pokémon. Please hurry!_

_Anabel._

Ash looked to Jed with a bit of worry in his eyes. "I got to go, Anabel needs me." And before Jed could offer any help, Ash broke into a run.

X

Ash and Pikachu followed Espeon through the branches and moss of the forest. The psychic Pokémon was trying her best to sense her mistress presence through the greenery.  
Thunder boomed over head. Somehow gray storm clouds had managed to sneak over the blue sky and started to boom ominously foreboding of rain to come.  
"Pika chu Pika!" The electric type yelled out to the Sun Pokémon to hurry the search.

Then surprisingly she halted, causing Ash and Pikachu to almost trip over her. The purple Pokémon looked around worriedly.  
"Esp… Espe Epseon!" She called out to one direction.

"Espeon is that you?" Anabel's familiar voice sounded before she stepped out for the others to see.

"Anabel are you alright?" He asked in full blown worry. The Salon Maiden had seen better days. The twigs were tangled in her hair and mud caked her sneakers.

She nodded though it looked like she was exhausted. "Yeah… just seems that I took on a situation a bit too big for me to handle alone. I need your experience with Pokémon plus Espeon's and Pikachu's firepower… in case it get's ugly."

This caused a twinge of panic in the trio. "Anabel what is going on? Is this related to what that furret was going on about earlier?"

She nodded. "Yeah… I'm a bit of a local friend to the Pokémon here, and I often try to help them out with their problems. This time though, two powerful Pokémon had just moved in and both are trying to compete for the best spot in the forest, which has cause a lot of Pokémon to be moved out of their homes." She sighed. "I had been trying to negotiate a solution to everyone but, these two are just impeccably stubborn and won't listen." She began to move with the others following behind her while she explained more. The two Pokémon were a Exploud and a Purugly, both extremely bossy and selfish who seemed to hate each other. At first the wild Pokémon tried to handle the situation themselves but were scared off by the both of them. So they went to Anabel as she had a way with aggressive Pokémon. And yet despite of all her efforts, nothing seemed to work.

"Maybe you can convince them were I can't Ash." Anabel said as they got nearer to the location. "Pikachu and Espeon are just a precaution." Though she tried to sound calm about it, her tone said that it might be inevitable. Suddenly, with another crack of thunder and lighting, the clouds opened up and from the havens heavy rain came pouring down to earth, instantly soaking our heroes and their Pokémon.

Trudging through the recently made mud, they finally reach the clearing after the sky had almost gone dark. Though now it didn't matter as with Anabel's sensing abilities and Ash's recently acquired Aura Sight.  
Wild Pokémon of all sorts stood in a circle as they watched the two large Pokémon facing off one another.  
The Exploud and the Purugly prowled around each other growling angrily. And around the wild Pokémon shook in fear.

The two humans nodded to each other before walking up, with the Pokémon clearing out of the way.  
As they approached, the Exploud and Purugly snarled at them, almost forgetting that their fight was with each other.

"Hey now stop this." Ash said in a firm yet calm voice; though it was a bit hard to here himself over the pounding rain. Both of the Pokémon ignored this started to puff themselves up threateningly. Seeing this Pikachu started to spark electricity, but was quickly snuffed out when seeing Ash shook his head.  
"Pika…" He hissed at the wild Pokémon.

Anabel quickly stepped up and the two wild Pokémon seemed to get even more threatening when they recognized her. "I ask you again. Please consider the Pokémon of this area idea. This is their home and you have no right to be here in the first place."  
Both Pokémon backed away and she took that as a sign that they could be possibly listening.  
Though Ash started to grow more and more worried when she got closer; his instincts were screaming that she had to stay where she was.  
He felt beside him Espeon and Pikachu were feeling the same and they all tensed up.

Anabel was unaware of this as her attention was solely focused on solving the issue. "Please, we need to compromise for a solution. If we could just—"

The exploud and purugly roared, finally tired of this human's meddling. Aimed towards her bright yellow orbs filled their mouths which only meant one thing.

'_Hyper Beam!'_ Both of the trainer thought. And as in slow motion, Anabel saw the beams be released towards her, and she couldn't move as all thought had deserted her mind in fear. But then she felt something push her aside, and before she hit the ground she saw a flash of a red cap.

The last thing Ash heard before the Hyper Beam collided with him was three voices all saying the same thing.

"ASH!"  
"ESPEE!"

"**PIKAPIII!"**

End of Chapter 14

**X**

**Yeah… **

**Hope you liked it!  
And now suspense.**

"**What Will happened to Ash now? Is he alright?  
What will happen next chapter?**

**Will Jed ever seem to stop being such a bother?**

**Also As of note, after I am done with chapter 15, I will start to update the other stories on my profile. So please be patient with me and review.**

**Also Merry Christmas!**

**And remember it's not happy holidays, happy Christmas or anything else.**

**It's MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

**God Bless everyone and enjoy the rest of the year.**


	15. Turning Point

**First off I like to apologize for my horrible lack of updates. After Christmas I had become too distracted with Skyrim, Dc Universe and helping the Boy and Girls club by teaching kids how to draw.  
So I apologize for this late and desperately needed chapter.**

**HAPPY ANIVERSARY!  
(that's late -_-)**

**Tried to update it on the 8****th**** but couldn't. Any way. This is the …one of the most important chapter we've all been waiting for and the story will be picking up from here.  
After I update my other two stories. But I will make it a point to update more often.  
Now….**

**PREPARE YOUR SELF FOR ABILITYSHIPPING!**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another  
By True-InTha-Blue  
Chapter 15  
Turning Point

(One month and two weeks after the initiation)

The first clear thought Ash had as he struggled to open his heavy eyelid was _"I hurt… much.'_  
Then after a little more struggling and losing the battle with his eyelids, Ash gave up and decided to just rest and wonder why his chest hurt so much.  
It wasn't only his torso but also his arms, head legs and… and possibly even his spleen. But now he was happy to relax on the nice and soft bed… that wasn't his nor was the one at Anabel's house. Not that it really mattered, Ash just wanted to know why… and why did he hurt in the first place.

'_Something to do with Anabel…'_ When thinking her name, his will power spiked and allowed him to open his eyes.  
Instantly he regretted it when light poured into his pupils causing him to wince. And now with them open, he could see the blurry shapes of a well furnished room. But what stood out were the small yellow blob and the big purple blob that rested on his stomach.

'_Wait… those aren't blobs…' _His mind was starting to sharpen as with his eyes. And the shapes began to take on familiar forms.  
Pikachu and Anabel rested on him with worried and strained looks. Then he finally recalled his last memory. They were in the forest and two Pokémon shot a Hyper Beam.

'_Oh right… they aimed at Anabel… had to get her out of way.' _He winced again slightly when Pikachu fidgeted slightly, but smiled know that they were safe.

"That's good…" He said hoarsely.

Abruptly Pikachu and Anabel woke up and eyes widen seeing Ash awake.

"PikaPi!" Pikachu latched on with all his might around his trainer's neck. But swiftly let go when Ash winced in pain. Gently Anabel picked the electric type off of him; looking up at her, Ash saw her eyes filled with relief and kindness that just seemed to make the pain go away.

"Eh…" Ash was speechless to what to say, especially when she laid her hand on his.  
"Thank goodness you're alright Ash." She said with relief in every word. "We were afraid that you would be out a lot longer."

This surprised Ash. "How long was I out?" He asked with a ting of nervousness.

Anabel sighed while putting on tired look. "Three days." She answered quietly as Ash blinked in disbelief. Three days? How badly was he injured? ….how bad did he make Pikachu and Anabel worry?

Anabel sensed his distressed feelings and quickly tried to sooth them before they cause the trainer more strain. "Don't worry. In fact you recovered quicker than Dr. Eric thought you would."

Ash scrunched his eyes in displeasure. "Gosh… But still… three days wasted… I'm sorry."

This caused Anabel and Pikachu to stare at him with shock. "Why on earth should you be sorry?" She said, startling Ash. "I'm the one who should be sorry… if it wasn't for me and my pointless hope that those two Pokémon could possibly consider any other solution than violence, than you wouldn't be in situation in the first place!"

This baffled Ash, even he may not be the smartest but there was no way that made any sense. "Okay, first off how can that be your fault?" You told me your powers Anabel and none of them had the ability to predict the future." He said a bit sternly. The two trainers stared off at each other almost as if daring the other to apologize.  
But simultaneously both gazes softened.

"I'm sorry." They said at the same time. They noticed and started to laugh.  
"Ow, ow, laughing hurts." Ash winced sitting up. He then noticed that dressings covered his whole torso and that his arm was in a sling.

Just then Dr. Eric entered the room. He looked at Ash and then to Anabel. "Well I guess you got your wish." He said to her. Anabel blushed a bit which everyone in the facility noticed. The doctor chuckled. "Alright then, now if you please Anabel, I need you and Pikachu to leave while I change Ash's dressings. And will you please go and get something to eat you too? Both of you look famished."  
The purple haired trainer and the electric type both looked a bit sheepish when he said that. But did what he said without much of a fuss.

Ash looked at him with confusion. "What did you mean by that?"

Dr. Eric looked at him wistfully. "You're a lucky man to have someone like Pikachu and Anabel, Ash." Beckoning the young man to stand up as he continued. "Not once had she nor your starter had left your side until I forced them too. And I was only able to do that once. –now hold still, this may sting a bit." He added when he started to peal of the bandages.

Ash gritted his teeth. "You mean that they have been watching me all this time? For three days?" Pikachu he could understand, but Anabel? She did all that for him?

"Believe me Ash that was nothing compared to when she first brought you in." He said still taking off another layer. "I heard someone knocking at midnight, and when I fetched the door there she was standing in the pouring rain with mud and sticks caked over her, carrying you over her shoulder unconscious with Pikachu trying desperately to help. Never had I seen anyone's eyes burn with determination like that. I started to operate on you and immediately Anabel and Pikachu insisted that they help. I tried to tell them to rest but I could not convince those two otherwise. Once I was able to tell them that your condition was stable and you were going to be alright. They both collapsed right then and there."

Ash's eyes widen. "You mean they were just running on pure adrenalin?"

"More like pure will power." Dr. Eric said. "And since then they haven't left your side. Even when after Maron, Sept, Jed and all the Pokémon came and left."

This revelation touched Ash's heart. He could not believe that they went through all of that for him. That sheer dedication was overwhelming to him, never in all his life had anyone, not even his friends, had shown that much worry.

'_But maybe it's not just friendship.'_ The young trainer thought to himself.

"There all done." Dr. Eric said when he finished unraveling the dressing.

Looking down, Ash couldn't help but cringe. On him were some pretty nasty burns with a little bit of blood leaking out. Almost like angry red fire snakes, they wrapped around his body. "Yikes."

Dr. Eric nodded. "Indeed. But they were much worse when I first saw them. You are very lucky you have your Tough Skin ability Ash, because it would have probably taken you longer to wake up or worse."

"What's worse? "

"You may have not woken up at all."

Ash shuddered when he realized how close he came and then realized how much he owed to Anabel and Pikachu dedication to him.  
And while Dr. Eric applied new bandages to him, Ash stayed silent; overwhelmed by Anabel's kindness. Ash always knew his buddy; Pikachu would always be with him, thick and thin. But here was Anabel, a human and a girl who he only knew for only a month. She had done a lot for him. From helping him get his fire back to saving his life. Matter of fact, she had done more for him in this short amount of time then most people he had met had done in a year.  
And yet she never said a thing about a thank you or anything in return; Anabel just smiles no matter what.

When the doctor was done, Ash settled back under the covers to relax and ponder about this new development. Alone and quiet, he was able to actually think about his relationship with Anabel.  
He didn't get to far when the door came open; Jed the Aura Philosopher, Maron the Battle Tower coach, and Sept the frequent Battle Tower participant, came huffing in with smile on their faces.

"We heard…" Maron gasped.

"-from Anabel that you…" Jed continued

"-were awake!" Sept finished.  
This was surprising to say at least when Ash's brain managed to catch up to what happened.  
"What are you guys doing here?" He asked, obviously confused. Before he knew it, the three men surrounded the bed he sat in.

"What a question to ask." Jed smirked.

"We were all worried about you Ash. From what Anabel told us, you should still be knocked out like a Snorlax." The dark skinned boy (Sept) said.

"You might have forgotten Ash, but Anabel isn't the only person here who's your friend."

These words touched Ash. He had been so focused at becoming a Battle Frontier that he didn't realize that Anabel friends became his as well. It had been subtle, unlike his other friendships that were spontaneous and instant, however this didn't matter. What did was the fact that they also liked him enough to come and visit.  
The boys demanded an explanation to what happened on the night he was hurt. When Ash asked why, the other three told him that Anabel refused to speak about it.

"She's been really worried about you." Maron told him.

Ash's brows furrowed. "Yeah, I l know. Dr. Eric told me that she hadn't left the room unless he forced her to go."

The three boys nodded then Jed spoke up. "He's got that right. And if I didn't know any better, but of course I do, I would say that Anabel blames herself for this incident."

The younger trainer's eyes budged out here this the second time. "But that's crazy why would she do that? I mean, why does she think this way?" Anabel had nothing to do with his choice. Clearly she must have interpreted something wrong.

Sept looked at Ash softly. "Ah… but you don't know Anabel as much as we do Ash. Beneath that tough, gentle and confident exterior beat's a heart of a shy, sensitive and doubtful girl. This is not the first time she has taken the blame of someone else's misfortune."

"Well then I'll convince her!" Ash said with a determined expression in his duel colored eyes. "I got to clear this up." He tried to get out of bed but the other three and slightly stronger boys easily held him in place.

"Woah. Hang on Ash." Maron said. "You're not going anywhere unless the doctor gives you the clear."

"Yeah and before you go blabbering something insensitive, use this time to think what you might need to say to her." The wise Aura philosopher stated.

Reluctantly, Ash settled back down and discussed among the men about what he had missed on the days out. To his surprise they told him who his other visitors were. Mr. Von from the bakery, the guy he met when he first came to Cobalt Town, some wild Pokémon and to his greatest surprise Scott.

"You mean Scott is here?"

"Was here." They corrected him. Being a busy man, Scott couldn't stay for long though the portly man stated very clear to everyone that he was very concerned over Ash's well being. But before he left he discussed something with Anabel in private. This left Ash wondering what this was .

"Do you think he is going to fire Anabel?" Ash said with anxiety in his voice.

"Pfft! Nah! Scott wouldn't lay Anabel off even if the fate of the world depended on it." Sept assured Ash with Maron backing him up.

"Sept's right Ash. Anabel, though young, is the second toughest member of the Battle Frontier, she's too valuable to lose."

Still, the younger trainer was left with a bit of doubt when his friends took their leave.  
But right after they left, Anabel carrying Pikachu with Espeon by her side calmly walked in. Now that he was focused, Ash could see the dark rings and bags underneath their eyes. They had exhausted themselves at his sake.  
But despite of this, the two smiled warmly at him.

"Did they give you any trouble?" Anabel referred to the three men while Pikachu and Espeon hoped on Ash's bed.

Ash grinned back. "I'm fine. The guys were really nice. And I'm thankful that you sent them my way." He started to pet Pikachu before continuing. "But please tell me, why do you blame yourself for this?" He gestured to the wrappings on his torso.

He watched as Anabel's eyes went from concerned to slightly frustrated. "Sometimes I really wish Jed wasn't so observant." She huffed looking away from the injured trainer. When she glanced back, Ash was staring at her like a parent would to make a child tell the truth. "I guess they told you I'm not always the confident Salon Maiden right?" She sighed when Ash nodded. Pikachu listened avidly whole Espeon looked concern. "Since you know I am really sensitive to emotions… but it goes both ways. Whenever I feel… say nervous or sad, I can get easily overwhelmed with these emotions."

Ash quirked an eyebrow. "Okay… but you never seem to be overwhelmed. Well at least for as long as I had been here."

He observed when she smiled ruefully. "That's because I took some training to control them. And normally I can… control them…"

"But something changed to where you can't always control them." Ash said in one of the rare moments he shows insight.  
"Pika pika Kachu-pika?" The electric type asked the purple haired girl.

"Well… No it doesn't normally happen Pikachu. And it is something I can't fix; just learn to regain my control."

"Then maybe we can fix it." Ash stated with Pikachu agreed. "What is it that's bothering you?"

"Ash I really don't want to say…"

"Anabel…"

"C'mon Ash you need rest and I can't be bothering you."

"_Anabel._"

The Salon Maiden sighed in defeat. "You're not going to give up are you?"

"No. Some say I'm particularly stubborn when it comes to the well being of my friends." He smirked. Pikachu and Espeon giggled at the joke and even Anabel smiled a bit.

"Alright, I'll tell you and I please don't take this the wrong way Ash." She said cringing slightly.

Ash smirked. "Anabel after all of this, nothing you can say can shock me really." He said confidently.

Anabel shrugged, "If you say so….. The problem…. It's you."

Silence.

Normally Ash would have asked for her to repeat incase he didn't hear right. But how could he not when she was right next to him. And also normally, once confirmed that he did hear right, the common reaction for him was to budge his eyes out and yell.  
But being the recently matured and injured version of him, Ash simply deadpanned and said

"What?"

More silence filled the room as both trainers stood (or sat) in a stare off. Both having disbelieving thoughts about the other.

"Hey you asked." Anabel said to him with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulder.  
"Pi."  
"Espe." The Pokémon said in agreement.

"Yeah but why?" Getting over the initial shock of hearing the problem as him, Ash was now curious as to why he was the cause to her lost of control emotions. Quickly he worried that it was because he did something wrong, then if he did, then he started to wonder how he could fix it.

As if reading his mind, Anabel quickly corrected his thoughts. "It's not really something you can correct Ash. It's nothing wrong its… just that you set me on edge." Her heart slightly fluttered when he cast her a concerned and hurt look. "I'm not holding anything against you Ash. All it is that you just simply are a change to my… relatively normal organized life. Just give me some time to adjust to this new change."

However Ash had different thoughts; considering she had a month to adjust to his presence there had to be something else involved to make her so uneasy. But he kept quiet and decided to approach the subject when she was feeling less guilty about this whole fiasco.

* * *

The next day Dr. Eric gave Ash the clear to leave. However before he could depart, Ash found out that he had a bit of a dilemma to deal with first.

"WHAT HAPPPEND TO MY CLOTHS?" Ash yelled at the top of his lungs while Pikachu sat on the bed laughing his tail off.  
Dr. Eric cringed at the volume. "Ash, they were absolutely destroyed when you suffered the duel Hyper Beam. Your skin may be tougher than the average human, but you cloths are the exception."

Ash sighed. "Alright… but was ANY thing salvageable?" My shirt?" The doctor shook his head. "My pants?" Another negative. "My… Hat?"

"Afraid not." The doctor said before leaving Ash to his lost. Soon the trainer's eye was twitching. Even his precious hat was gone. How was he going to get out of this mess of all things?  
Tired of thinking of his current predicament, with a sigh the train sat back down on the bed. His emotions in turmoil, it didn't help that Pikachu was still giggling despite of electric type's attempt to stifle it.

But like the shining ray of light and hope she represent, Anabel just came through the door to fix that problem. In her arms was an outfit.  
In surprise, the trainer got up to see what she had exactly. It… was a blue and white version of Maron's clothes.

"Uhhh…" Thoughts started to wonder on how she got such a thing.

Anabel blushed lightly, while slightly shrugging. "Since I had seen your state of attire when I… carried you from the attack, I asked Maron to lend some of his old outfits to help you out. " She paused a bit, which is not surprising how embarrassed she was about talking about the subject. "There just your size." She said before shoving them into Ash's arms then quickly leaving so the slightly bemused and baffled trainer could get dressed.

After shutting the door behind her, a great sigh escaped her lips. This wasn't going to well. Anabel had no idea that Ash would attract trouble like a honey does to a Combee. It was a chore just to keep him alive!  
And what's worse was that thanks to that little… _incident_… Her feelings towards that cutely thick headed trainer had… well intensified.

Seriously, who wouldn't develop affectionate feelings for someone who had gallantly (or not so gallantly for then Anabel remembered that Ash accidently shoved her in a puddle of mud when taking the attack for himself) saved them from almost certain doom.  
Anabel mentally groaned._ 'And now Ash is asking questions that relate to how I feel about him.'_ In all honesty she hoped that the day improved from here on.

When Ash came out on a crutch and sling followed by Pikachu, the Salon Maiden cast away her thoughts on her own dilemma to help him out.  
She smiled slightly when Ash gave her a nervous face and asked "How do I look?"

"Not bad." She shrugged. But in all reality, with tan slacks, a white button dress shirt and a blue vest with silver lining, the usually raggedy trainer looked absolutely spiffing.

"Where's Espeon?" Ash asked when he looked his friend's (could she really be called his friend now… the term seemed so insignificant) starter Pokémon.

"Already at the Battle Tower, she's observing with Maron over the battlers." She said when they headed out the door.

"Pika pi Pika kachu pi chu?" The electric type perked up, when he heard this. Both trainers understood that the mouse Pokémon wanted to see his friend as the two had made it a habit to explore the 100 floors of the tower.  
"Isn't that your job?" Ash asked Anabel when Pikachu left. He was referring to the fact that a Pokémon was supervising a building full of rowdy trainers.  
Her answer was surprising and yet expected. "That is my job; however, I have another one that is more important right now: taking care of you."

Ash wanted to disagree with that, he could take care of himself right now; but her tone left no argument. Living a month with her had taught Ash that she could be far more stubborn when she set her mind to something. So with an aggravated huff that as akin to a Walord shooting water out of its spout, he dropped the subject.

But the awkward tension still existed between them. Who could blame them really, the week so far had been very stressful, from one of them to nearly dying, another overexerting herself to the point of sickness, one losing his favorite hat and the other nearly unintentionally forced to tell her feelings.  
Needless to say that the day couldn't possibly be any worse.

On the other hand, fate has always hated Ash.

Quickly before they could realize what was going on, out in the blue, literally from the lake blue, a mechanical claw shot out and grabbed the closest thing to the body of water. Which just happened to be Anabel.

Before they knew it, she was in the grasp of the machine while it rose out of water. A big fat red R was smack dab on the front.  
"ANABEL!" Ash screamed seeing her being taken away.

Aaanddd….

Theme music!

_Hahaha!  
"Look out! Here comes the tide!"  
"Crashing in and sweeping you aside!"  
"Bring destruction and ruin across the plain!"  
"Hold on tight now, you're going to be in pain!"  
"Cassidy!"  
"Butch!"  
"Shuckle!"_

They struck a pose.  
_"Filling this world with fire is our quest!"_  
_"Don't try to stop us because Team Rocket is the best!"_

Ash gritted his teeth after hearing the annoying theme song. It was those two again! Man why can't Team Rocket just ever leave him alone. But they crossed the line when they got Anabel into their mess.

"HEY!" Ash yelled with all his might, even though he knew he couldn't look very threatening with bandages wrapped around him while he leaned on a crutch. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Butch and Cassidy looked towards the source of the voice; they looked startled as it they just realized he was there for the first time.

"Oh… look the twerp." Cassidy said with mild interest.

Butch nodded. "Who knew? And they went back to ignoring him.

Baffled and angry, Ash yelled at them again, this time getting a bit more of response.

"Listen punk We don't have time for you." Butch yelled back at the trainer.

"But don't worry, as soon as we deliver this delightful oddity of a human to the Boss, we'll be sure to come back for that particular Pikachu of yours." Cassidy said with a malicious grin.

Almost magically, Butch wiped out a remote and pressed buttons in a seemingly random order. It caused the arm that our dear Salon Maiden was trapped in over to the villainous duo.

You can say that Anabel was not pleased being captured like this. Feeling helpless and angry that she was called an oddity, it wasn't any surprise when she nearly spat out an insult.  
"Slime!" She said it like it was nearly a curse.  
Though this made Team Rocket slightly mad, they were not deterred from the task at hand. And with a few more buttons the giant machine started to stomp off away from the shore, having Anabel become farther and farther away from Ash.

Not if he could say anything about it.

It was that moment, at that time, at that place; our thick headed trainer had an epiphany. Such clarity shone through his eyes when it happened, nothing could have been simpler.  
He needed Anabel.

Maybe those exact words weren't what he thought, maybe it was more a feeling than anything else, but the intention was the same. He had to save her.

No Matter What.

Disregarding his injuries, disregarding that he was practically crippled, and even completely disregarding that the fact he was facing a giant robot, with two criminals who probably had a lot of powerful Pokémon at their disposal while he had none, Ash lunged towards the mech.

And time slowed down as if Dialga himself had ordered it so. Every moment, Ash could see himself getting closer.  
Anabel prayed that he wouldn't get hurt.  
Team Rocket just smiled evilly, silently laughing at Ash's foolish attempt to rescue her.

Our heroes' hopes were quickly dashed and the villain's rose, when Ash started to slow to a decline.

Despite of this, Ash wouldn't, couldn't give up. _'NO I HAVE TO SAVE HER!'_  
And so his wish was granted.

In the same amount of time it took to blink an eye, it was the same amount that changed the whole entire situation.

"_**GYARRAAAAAAAA!"**_  
From the lake, between the mecha and the falling trainer, water rose forth as if boiling under pressure.  
Ash was engulfed by the foaming liquid, casting him away from sight. Anabel yelled for his name.  
And before Team Rocket knew it, when the water cleared, they were staring at a pair of very large and very angry eyes.

Like the mighty serpent it was, the Gyarados hissed menacingly at the intruders who dared disrupt his waters.  
But this wasn't their only crime. As you see, this was the same Gyarados that Anabel and Ash met a year ago when it had a thorn stuck in its side. Ever since then, in gratitude, it had secretly watched and protected the Salon Maiden from any danger that would ever cross her way.  
And now these two foolish human's will face its wrath.

"**GYAAAAAARRAAAAAAAA!" **In one mighty swoop of its tail, the arm that restrained the purple haired girl snapped like a tooth pick. In another swift motion, the great beast halted the girl's fall.  
But then in retaliation, Team Rocket's mech slammed the other claw in to the duel Water/Flying types head. But to the villain's dismay, it hardly affected Gyarados, only serving to fill it with more rage.

Seeing their efforts futile, in a last ditch effort the Rocket duo had the giant robot turn around to flee the battle. But those who have raised or encountered Gyarados themselves know how particularly persistent these creatures are. So it was no surprise to see energy and water form in its mouth before it released an overpowered Hydro Pump.  
The attack crashed in the machine and then everything was history from there.

Smoking as they flew through the sky, we hear the last words from these defeated foes.

"OH C'mon!" Cassidy yelled. "Now the author gives us lines! We barely had any when we were winning. What kind of show are you putting on here?"

"Well that's what we get for becoming part of a crappy Fanfiction." Butch grunted.

"LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THIS STORY!"

"SHUCKLE!"

Twinkle.

* * *

Back at the gyarados, Anabel soon found that Ash had landed on the rage Pokémon when he fell. But even though he landed safely, his bandages had gotten wet while his wounds reopened.

Ash felt her hand try to pick him up but he couldn't prevent the noise that came out of him. "Aaaaaa…" He groaned in pain, as she slowly dragged him from the Pokémon's back to the shore.

Anabel winced when he did. "Sorry Ash. But I need to get you to dry land."

When they did get to land, Ash noticed something which Anabel could not see. Ignoring his pain he pointed behind them. "Wait."

Turning around, Anabel saw that the gyarados was still watching them. And being the sensitive type (or in her case beyond sensitive) she knew what it wanted; and so did Ash when he nodded to have her set him down.

"Thank you." She said walking up to the giant creature. "I and Ash owe you our life."

Gyarados let out a grunt as if to say 'Your Welcome' but there was something in its eyes that told Anabel a deeper story.  
"You want to join me?" Another grunt which told her yes. "Okay but why?" Instead of saying anything, the gyarados lowered its head, until it touched the ground on her feet. For such a large and powerful creature that existed in the Pokémon world, this bowing itself before a human meant a sign of respect, that the human was strong as well.

And whilst all of this happened, something else clicked in Ash's mind.

A small smile dotted her lips. "Well if you say so." Conveniently she had an empty Poke'Ball, and allowed Gyarados to be captured by the red light. The Poke'Ball gave a shake three times before the sound of a successful capture filled the air.

* * *

As Anabel helped the limping Ash back to the house, they were silent once more. Maybe it was because there was nothing to talk about, or it could have been that they were so exhausted from the day's events that they were conserving energy.  
But the most likely reason to why no words passed through their lips is because subconsciously they knew as soon as one opened their mouths, it was going to change the way their viewed one another.

So Ash thought.

All of last night, Pikachu slept at the foot of the bed; and he had been thinking and thinking as that was all he could do while the painkillers rendered his body almost immobile. In that time he had come to several conclusions about Anabel.

Conclusion #1: Anabel was a young woman. Not a girl like most of the female gender he had met on his numerous of journeys, but someone who could and has fended for themselves and is mature to know both the bad and good parts of life; someone who is able to take his brash personality and put it to good use while not getting angry or even frustrated.

Conclusion #2: Anabel was his equal. Not a care taker, role model, an inexperienced friend, elder, younger kid, or brotherly or sisterly figure. Though she had taught him a lot about Pokémon, being a Battle Brain and about life in general, it never felt as though she acknowledge about her superior intellect. It was never demeaning learning from her, and it was actually great fun.  
Which leads him to the next conclusion.

Conclusion #3: Anabel was full of life. She was sweet, kind and caring like his mom, but full of inner fire that made her one of the most challenging opponents on the battle field. The Salon Maiden, experimented with new things, made friends in her own way and embraced new ideas. Never did she unfairly judge things that were odd or strange, but instead looked at them for what they were… Just like him.  
Another thing was that Anabel could do things no human could. She can befriend the wildest and most vicious of Pokémon, walk in the woods at night without fear and communicate into the mysterious creatures hearts.

Conclusion #4: All of this meant that Anabel had become a very, very special person to him; more so that anyone else (except probably his mother and Pikachu).

And this equaled Conclusion #5: Friendship wasn't enough. He needed Anabel especially when he came close to losing her this day.

And while Ash thought,  
Anabel thought.

She nearly lost Ash twice in the same week. What if the third time he wasn't so lucky? And if that did happen, what's worse, tell him now and possibly face rejection or never knowing whether or not he _did_ return those feelings?

Her thoughts turned to an old proverb._ 'Love is giving someone the power to hurt you and trusting them not to.'_ And the answer became clear.  
_'But first I need to give Ash proper care. His needs before mine.'_

And so they arrived at the foot of her house, when Rook the Blaziken came out with some bandages before they could even get through the door. A quick explanation from him, told Anabel that wild Pokémon had seen the situation from previous and quickly went to the elder fire type to help. It was of great relief to have the fighting type help out with removing and reapplying the dressings back on.  
Already did the Pikachu Trainer seemed better already with the sun drying him off as they closed the wounds. In an act of kindness, Rook to Ash back to the house to rest while Anabel stayed out.

Not being able to help herself, the Salon Maiden sat against the side of her house, tired from the day's events. And slowly dose off.

* * *

"Anabel?" Her eyes opened quickly hearing her name uttered. When she did, the sun was setting and Ash was there right beside her.  
She yawned a bit, and cringed; Her back stiff from sitting at a ninety-five degree angle all afternoon.

"Anabel?" Ash asked again for the seconded time.

Finally was she able to respond back. "What is it Ash?"

"What are you doing out here?" Worry was etched in his features. It wasn't like her to be so distracted like this…. Then again, they both had gone through a lot in a short time.

"Thinking." Was her simple response.

A small smile came across Ash's face that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Think ehh? That's all we seem to be doing today… when were not facing perilous dangers that is."

The two laughed lightly at the joke, reveling in the fact that they can laugh like this.

But the time had come.

"Hey Anabel… I need to ask you something."

She didn't notice the way he said his words. "Actually Ash, can I tell you something first?"

He looked surprised by this. "Uh… sure."

Taking a deep breath, Anabel prepared to plunge into a pit with no bottom. "Ash… you are a remarkable person. Able to take on Pokémon attacks, saving people no matter what and a fun attitude to boot." She paused for a bit to let the words sink in for the both of them. "You have been the greatest friend I have had. But… I feel…. I dunno really… more than that." The Salon Maiden waited for an answer. When it was just silence she continued. "I really don't know how I feel about you really… but I really like you… more than a friend."

"Anabel…"

The girl kept her face impassive; she didn't know what was to come next. "Yes Ash?"  
When she turned her head, she saw the softest expression on Ash's face. His duel colored eyes were… joyful.

"You…. Just answered my question." He looked up to the beautiful sky. "I… really like you too Anabel." He paused for a moment before chuckling. "It's funny… I never felt like this for anyone before… but… when it comes to you… if feel like friendship isn't enough."

Turning back to her he saw her smile, not hugely or sadly but something that meant more than any other word. And he knew that… they liked each other more than friends.

They both remained in silence, just basking in the revelation. Until.  
"So… what do we do now?" Anabel asked.

Ash looked at her with confusion. "Ummm…. I dunno exactly… aren't we suppose to do something… romantic?"

Anabel laughed. "After today? Romance is the last thing from my mind. Besides I don't know how to do that exactly."

It was his turn to laugh as well. "It's funny, we're top notch Pokémon trainers that rival adults when were kids, but neither of us know the first thing when it come to be… well… liked."  
His eyes widen when he felt Anabel's hand hold his softly.  
"I think," She said. "This is nice enough."

No words were spoken after that. They didn't need any at that moment.  
All they really needed at that moment,

Was each other.

* * *

**FINALLLY!**

**Took me forever to make the circumstances seem right. As I hate sappy confessions with a 'I love you' and a kiss.**

**No, this is much more natural.  
I hope.**

**One thing that ticks me off (and I am not trying to point fingers here or signal anyone out) is when Anabel is appeared to be weak or an emotional wreak when it comes to her feelings with Ash. Just because she likes the boy doesn't mean she falls apart at the seams.  
I believe she is tough as nails while still being kind a gentle.**

**Anyway the story will pick up from here and hopefully more abilityshipping.**

**Oh the fun I will have.**

**Hoped you enjoyed it and I have fulfilled you expectations.**

**Please let me know if I have made any mistakes and if you have any questions.**

**Thank you and Please REVIEW!**


	16. Parent Talk'

**First off I must say that I am truly sorry about the delay. And second I must apologize that I have not been the humble author I was at the beginning of this story.**

**Once again I must thank everyone of you guys who have reviewed and supported me throughout all these chapters. **

**But I apologize as this is more filler with character development. But hopefully you will like the interactions. More Poke' Adventures and expect a new battle for next chapter.**

* * *

,From One Side to Another  
By True-InTha-Blue  
Chapter 16  
'Parent' Talk

(One month and a half after the initiation)

Some would say it was the best of times and the worst of times, but in reality it was just a plain good time for our two heroes and their Pokémon.

No longer was there awkward and unnecessary tension between the two and no longer did they have to hide stare at one another wondering what to do next.  
Ash and Anabel… were a couple to say at least. But of course you would never hear that from them.

That isn't to say that the relationship was perfect, far from it. It was not romantic as some might think nor was it stressful; they didn't bother to make it complicated. It was a simple affection, one born of not knowing it this was love or not as you would expect from two teenagers without any previous experience. There was no kissing or even a peck on a cheek. Hugs were the farthest they have gone and that was enough for them. But if for one moment that you would think that would quench the fire in their eyes and dull their instincts for battle dear reader, then you are sorely mistaken.

For you see Ash and Anabel were trainers far before they met each other; like Pokémon, battling was in their blood and it was their way of expressing their feelings with each other. They didn't need words or the reassurance that their partner 'loved' them, they knew what the other felt and they were perfectly fine with that..

But unfortunately, the excitement that was felt in previous weeks had to die down as Ash recovered from his injuries. Battling and training was reduced to small practices and Aura training was canceled as Jed said that Ash needed to be in tip top shape for it.  
But this left plenty of time for the young Pikachu Trainer to learn the other side of being a Battle Brain.  
Paper work.

"GAAAA!" Ash yelled before flopping his head in the desk. "I'm going to get an ulcer if I have to do one more file of complaints!"

"Pika…" His starter patted his head trying to comfort the poor human. Both of them waited with baited breath for when he got better.

Anabel looked at her good friend and recently turned boyfriend (of course they never addressed each other as that as they both thought it completely unnecessary of such trivial titles, not to mention it was just plain awkward to say it) and sighed. "Sorry Ash but until those bandages come of, the battles are off."

The darker skinned boy groan was muffled by his face in the desk. "C'mon Anabel. I will snap if something doesn't happen." He once again flopped his face, this time into his hands. And though a scowl dotted his face then, he started to smile when Anabel gave him a small yet affectionate noogie.

"Don't tell me the almighty Ash Ketchum, the Champion of the Battle Frontier, is going to loss to simple boredom?"

Ash grinned slightly. "When it comes to me in boredom, I would rather face Arceus with no Pokémon than having to go through several weeks of this cursed feeling of helplessness."  
_'Of course it doesn't help that the fact that I have faced Arceus as myself…'_ But he kept that thought to himself as… well that would just be weird, even for someone like Anabel.

He watched her smile gleefully and in return smiled back. Work wasn't so bad, with Anabel, these things seemed minuscule; life with a …'girlfriend' was exciting. A new challenge and hopefully it will turn into something…. He didn't know, deeper? Hopefully it will become more fun when he can get out of these stupid bandages.

But his attention was quickly distracted when he saw his Pikachu gave out a huge yawn. A pang of guilt washed through him then. It wasn't fair that while he was out that Pikachu had to suffer the same fate even though the electric type wasn't hurt.  
He patted Pikachu on the head smiling and said. "Hey why don't you go out to have some fun buddy?"

"Pi..ka?" The mouse Pokémon looked at him oddly, tilting his head a bit confused.

"He's right Pikachu." Anabel joined in understanding what Ash was getting at. "Go out and play. We'll handle things here okay?"

Finally understanding, the electric type gave out a huge grin and affectionately hugs both trainers before leaping down the elevator to explore.

* * *

_A Poke' Adventure…._

Finally getting off, quickly he ran towards Anabel house where all the Pokémon were at for the day.  
As fast as his little paws could carry him, he saw the Sun Pokémon talking to Rook the Blaziken. Hearing Pikachu, they both turned their heads and acknowledge the electric type.

"Hey guys." Pikachu said. "Ash let me off for the day so we can play together now."

"That sounds great Pikachu." Espeon said with glee; however Rook was uninterested.

"You youngin's, always looking for ways to entertain yourselves." He said in his gravelly voice.

"Aw c'mon Rook, what's wrong with that?" The electric type asked jokingly.

The elder Pokémon shot him a glance before saying. "Boy, when you get to be as old as me, you don't need entertainment! Just food, sleep and battle. And speaking of which-" A great yawn escaped his beak. "I think I will just do that."

Both of the younger Pokémon sighed seeing the Blaziken fall into a deep slumber.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not too keen growing up to be like Rook." Pikachu whispered to Espeon making sure not to wake Rook up. "Sure he's strong but he is as boring as a full gulpin."

Espeon giggled at the joke. "Well then, let's use our youthfulness to explore the lake. I want to see the gyarados that Mistress Anabel caught." Her tone was excited at the prospect.  
And like his friend, Pikachu was too, interested in seeing the duel Flying/Water type.  
This would be a good chance to see one up close without having to battle it for once.

'_When you with Anabel, you can do things that one might normally could.'_ He thought with a smile.

And so, being both small and speedy, the two raced across the acres of grass and forest. In the side were the shimmering waves of the lake reflecting the sunlight like a giant mirror of crystal.  
Faster and faster they ran, both almost reaching the speed of Quick Attack. And like Ash's and Anabel's experience with each other, the two Pokémon's time spent together was nice; but, lacked the awkward tension that the human's had.

Soon they could see the silhouette of Gyarados' head out of the lake. And the closer they came, the more the color of aqua blue and coral yellow began to fill the water type's scales and fins.  
This wasn't the only thing they saw, a small lump laid on the ground in front of it. When it occurred to him that he had company, the serpent turned its giant head towards the tiny little Pokémon on the land.

"You are… the Mistress' Pokémon, Espeon." The Gyarados voice was slow and deep, showing power and great inner strength. He gave a short bow of respect to the purple Pokémon as she was his Mistress' starter. "This one." He addressed to the lump on the ground, completely ignoring Pikachu I might add. "I found him like this."

Pikachu and Espeon walked over to it and lo and behold it was a spinda. But oddly enough, instead of the cream fur with orange dots, this one was unique with silver fur and blue dots that almost reflected sunlight like gems. (**A/N: Can any think of anything similar that does that?)**  
"Well… this is odd." Pikachu said plainly. His partner nodded in agreement unable to say anything at the moment.

Sudden to their surprise, the spinda sat up! And let out a yelp when it saw the two of them with the Gyarados above them.

"EPP!" He said jumping up in the air. Then awkwardly it relaxed and leaned over as to observe the three.

"Uhh… what are you doing?" Pikachu asked, the strange behavior of this Pokémon was weirding him out. Then again, spinda aren't exactly known to have normal patterns of behavior due to their reputation to be overly dizzy all the time.

Spinda ignored him, putting a finger on his chin while murmuring "I didn't think he didn't mean to throw me this far…" He said in a slightly squeaky and young voice.

Finally Espeon had the courage to ask. "Excuse me but how did you get here?"

The spinda did a startled take, and almost fell back, but then toppled forward. Standing back up he said. "Well… I flew of course!" He said with pride.

"Flew?" Gyarados said with disbelief evident in his voice.

"YEP!" Spinda said before thinking about what he said. "Well… of that's what you call when you're traveling in the air after being thrown for a training practice."

With missing a beat Espeon asked if he was alright with concern in her voice. The blue spinda just smiled with flexing his tiny arms. "Don't worry about little ol me Miss Espeon! I'm tough as a cookie!"

Considering that this conversation wasn't going anywhere Pikachu decided to be blunt. "Why are you blue?"

"That!- Is a secret." He said with a mysterious smile on his face. "NOW! I must find where I came from." He looked around quickly. "I think THAT general direction will be good!" He said pointing to the east.

Pikachu and Espeon stared oddly at the erratic spinda while he walked off. "You have no idea where you're going, do you?"

"Nope! La la la-" he said causing Espeon to sigh. "We better go help him." She voiced the thoughts that her electric type partner was having. "See you later Gyarados." She said to the giant Pokémon before following the normal type.

* * *

Back at the Battle Tower's entrance, Ash let out a huge sigh of relief when he stepped outside. The cool breeze, the smell of the lake near the sea, the slight sound of the Pokémon life in the woods, did wonders to his physic. It was as though nature itself was curing him while he stood there in its midst.  
But the real reason why he was feeling good was because he no longer had to deal with the stupid complaints that had been plaguing him.

But then Ash frowned a bit. Anabel was still up there trying to deal with her own paperwork, and it made him felt bad for enjoying this day without her despite of her instance that he went outside to get some fresh air.  
Ash refused to go out while she was still trapped inside, but the Salon Maiden happened to be far more stubborn than he was that day, and practically dragged him out, laughing when his face turned bright red when she grabbed his hand. He couldn't do anything to stop her of course, do to his injuries.

Our hero ran a hand over his hair, blushing a bit at the memory. Though dense, Ash had enough experience to feel the affection of a simple holding of hands.  
And he also wasn't dense enough to realize that making a treat for someone you like would also show affection as he headed back to the house with determination to make Anabel happy.  
"Wonder what she likes?" He thought cranking the gears in his head about any indicator that could give him a clue.

To his surprise when he looked up, he saw someone standing at the door in front of Anabel's cottage. Surprise turned into confusion as when Ash got nearer, he realized that the he could almost recognize the silhouette of the person. And confusion turned into shock when he saw clearly who it was.

"MOM?" He practically yelled causing his mother to realize that he son was in her presence.

Delia Ketchum let out her trade mark smile, seeing her boy before walking over. "Hello to you too Ash." She giggled before frowning slightly. "My… Scott was right about your injuries, they will take some time to heal." She said with a slight sigh.

Ash eyes widen realizing that she could see them and tried to quickly stop any misconceptions. "Mom! It's not like that. I did it out of my own free will—" He stopped. "Wait, Scott told you?"

"Of course, how do you think I knew where to look?" She said giving a blunt reply. "I know everything that is going on right now; the conditions required, what you need to do, and especially who you are learning from." She paused. "Is she nice?"

Ash could feel heat rising on his cheeks before he could answer. "Yes.. Ana—she is very nice. One of the nicest people I ever met." He looked towards his mother hoping she wouldn't notice his awkward behavior; though there was no indication that she did, it still didn't put him at ease.

"Can you walk with me Ash? This is such a pretty place." She didn't wait for an answer when she started to walk. And giving no answer, her son walked along side her.  
It was then that he realized a development that had happened to him at his time at the Battle Tower: He had grown taller. A lot taller! He was almost at his mother's height right now… but that didn't make since, his clothes didn't feel any shorter… but… they were Maron's old cloths. Maybe he grew when he was in Dr. Eric's house resting his injuries.

His musing was interrupted when Ash realized that his mom was talking to him. "Sorry Mom… but what did you just say?"

Delia smiled a bit more. "You seem deep in thought… I guessing that this is a recent habit you've developed."

Ash could feel sweat on his brow. "Uh Yeah! I have been thinking a lot these days! A bit unusual heh heh!" He was nervous because he didn't want his mom to get a bad impression of Anabel. It wasn't her fault he got injured; he took it out of his own free will.

Though he felt his stomach plummet when her smile widened and hearing her next words. "You like her don't you?"

She watched her son's jaw dropped in surprise and his pupils shrink hearing the accusation. "Wha—whi- how!"

"Did I know?" Delia gave a reassuring squeeze to his hand. "It's hard to hide that type of thing from your mother you know; especially counting the fact that she must have made such an impact that she can change your usual way of thinking."

Ash sighed agreeing. "Yeah… Anabel does that to you."

"What is she like?" His mom asked as they continued walking. She observed her son get a bit of a hazy gaze, and a small but obviously happy smile that perked on his face. "She's… she's not like many girls I know. Misty, May and Dawn are great and all… but Anabel!" He said with his voice rising with pride. She's—she's nice, smart, and… well great!" Ash struggled to find the right words. "I mean… Anabel can do amazing thing, and she is not afraid to pursue new ideas and try them. She likes all types of Pokémon and exploring with me in the woods, she always make sure that the Battle Tower participants are doing okay and she like chocolate cake and-" He stopped realizing his mom was giggling at him, clutching her mouth to stop the onslaught of her amusement from being too obvious.  
"Uh… Mom?" He asked.

Delia stopped, but still had a huge smile that reached her eyes. "Hehe… I would have never thought that I would see you this way so soon."

Ash quirked an eyebrow. "What way?"

"You Ash, sound absolutely love-struck." This made our hero blush at the comment. "You have certainly grown up Ash, in only in a month no less."

Ash blinked. "Uh… I'm assuming that's a good thing-right?" His voice slightly nervous.

"Of course it is Ash." Delia told her son. She turned her head to where there was some wild Pokémon playing together. "I'm so proud how much my little man has grown."

"Aw… mom." Ash could feel another blush rising, this time from his mother's compliment. For the she was silent, simply observing her surroundings. It was Ash who restarted the conversation.

"I never really got to thank you properly Mom."

"Hmm? For what?"

A smile appeared on her son's face. "For helping make this choice, to become a Battle Brain. If I hadn't I would have never known what it would be like to have someone to care for. Anabel has helped me so much… More so than I would have ever thought possible….  
But that's what a relationship is about right? Helping and encouraging each other in their time of need no matter what."

Delia looked at her son, her face was calm but her eyes shined at his statement. "Yes, but so much more which eventually figure out the more time you spend with her."

He smiled, then noticing her circling around him. "What's the matter mom?"

"You hair-" She started to say; her motherly instincts were starting to take over as she now observed her son's state. "Why is it so unruly Ash? I know you like to live rough, but you've always managed to take care of it in the past." She started to reach for his face intending to wipe it away.

Ash backed up slightly remembering his Anchor eye. "Now-now wait mom I have to tell you—"

"Honestly Ash how can you se-. Ash."

He gulped now that she could see his unnatural glowing blue eye that replaced his amber one. "Yyess?" He asked nervously.

"How did you get your Aura Anchor?"

Realization shot through him. "Wait! How do you know about Aura?"

His mother gave off an unusual expression; her voice now a bit clipped. "Who do you think you got your genes from?"

"WAIT! You can use Aura? But—but how come I have never seen you use it?" Ash thought back to his life for any indication that his mother had this mysterious power than had now become a focus in his life; nothing came up though.

His mother shook her head as if trying to ward of a bad memory. "Just because I have the potential to use it doesn't mean I did. Neither did your grandfather; however, he did pass down the knowledge of us having it down to me."

"Are you angry with me?" Our hero asked worried that he might have to 'un-learn' everything.

But a small amount of relief came when his mother sighed. "No, I'm fine with you learning this but Ash."

"What?"

"Just… don't let it consume your life." She paused for a bit. "My father use to tell me stories of other Aura users that had their lives so wrapped up in developing their powers that they soon forgotten about life itself."

Ash's eyes widen and then shook his head vigorously. "No no! Don't worry about me Mom!" He showed off his signature grin telling her that everything was fine. "I don't think I can ever be like that! I'm not some old guy who obsesses about things. I love my life as a Pokémon trainer too much to do that. Aura is just something I learned to help me widen my surroundings." And like a son loving his mother, he grasped her hand. "Besides I'm growing up and I don't think I can live so wrapped up in one part of life. I enjoy living and everything about it."

And it was apparent to his mother that she indeed not worry about him, though his physical state has changed, he was still her little Ash at the core. "That's good to hear. And yes I can see that you are growing up to be a fine young man indeed." Mother and son hugged in a rare moment of affection, probably out of the fact that it has truly been a while since they have with Ash traveling so much. "Though I am curious, who taught you?" She said putting a finger on her chin.

Ash smirked a bit, not at his mother but in memory of the erratic Aura Philosopher. "Yeah… The guys name is Jed Stone, calls himself an Aura Philosopher. He's a friend of Anabel's and so far he's been pretty nice."

His mother smiled and laughed a bit. He wondered why she would laugh until she said. "Stone?... Oh I'm so glad you finally met you cousin Ash."

This halted our hero, so suddenly in fact that he face planted on the ground. Getting up the reaction was spontaneous. "WHA-WHO-HOW-WHY?"

Despite of her son's outburst and obvious discomfort, a small amount of humor was still in her voice. "Well… distant cousin of course, probably three times removed. The Stone's and my family were once the same in the past, but before my father decided to leave, we always managed to keep close ties. Really now, if we were still with the aura community and if you were a girl you probably would've been married of to him." She said without heeding much notice to her son's mortification.

"Wha-" Poor Ash was so scared that his eyes started twitching and he was unaware of all that was around him until…

"Why? Why did I need to hear that?" Jed's voice came from afar. To his left were Jed and his Nidoking, who seemingly took an innocent walk in the forest that day, heard everything as well. He sported the same look as his now discovered cousin, at the thought of what was just said. Not wanting this to be any more awkward Ash tried to speak up but was silenced by Jed's hand.  
"No." The Aura Philosopher said firmly. "Just don't. Now if you excuse me, I will now leave and start repressing this memory before I have nightmares tonight." Nothing was said when he walked off.

"So that's what he looks like." Delia said who was still smiling. Whether she was oblivious to all of this, or she had more of a mischievous side than she let on.

Our hero, taking heed of Jed's advice, shook his head to repress what he just heard. But he continued to follow his mother walker further to the forest. They walked along the shore line, watching the sun shimmer on the azure surface. "So when do you expect when you'll heal completely?" Delia asked, once again motherly instincts taking over.

He turned his duel colored eyes towards the white gauss around him and the sling that his arm resided in, sighing. "I don't know… I go to Dr. Eric's clinic everyday to get healing therapy from some Pokémon, and… well… it will take me at least a week… Anabel makes sure I don't strain myself, so- no battling for me." He sighed again.

And once again he saw his mother smile. "That gives me more of a reason to like her." She said fondly.

This gave Ash an idea. "Would you like to meet her? Anabel's a lot more amazing when you actually get to see her." He said with a faint blush rising to his cheeks, this time, he didn't mind it or what it indicated.

But to his surprise Delia shook her head. "No, not now. I'll think I'll wait until you're ready to show everyone."

"Oh…" Our hero looked a bit disappointed. But a thought crossed his mind on how he can use this opportunity to his advantage. "Well then… I guess…. I need to ask you something though… "

"What is it Ash? You know you can ask me anything."

"Tell me about girls!" He said with all seriousness.

Delia's eyes widen and started to avoid her son's eyes. Figures that he would ask that type of question that indicated that he needed the 'talk' that all parents dreaded to talk one day.

"What's the matter mom?" He said completely oblivious like he normally was.

Delia gulped. "Ash… I think it's time I told you about the Pidgeot and the Beedrill…"

Ash tilted his head in confusion. "Why do I need to learn about Pokémon?"

* * *

"HOW DO I KEEP GETTING INTO THESE SITUATIONS?" Pikachu yelled at the top of his lungs, while he, Espeon and Spinda all ran as fast as their legs could take them across the forest ground. Behind them Beedrill were on hot pursuit, with their stingers menacingly pointed strait at them, launching Poison Jab after Poison Jab after the trio.

"YEAH? How do you get yourself into these things?" Espeon yelled at the panicking electric type, referring to the time where he was chased by Beedrill last time he came to the Battle Tower.

"WHEEE!" Spinda yelled waving his arms back and forth as though he was actually having fun. Strange part, he was.

"YOU'RE INSANE!" Pikachu screamed at the apparently screwed up panda Pokémon.

The blue spinda gave out a huge grin. "YEP! You aren't having fun?"

"NO WHY WOULD WE?" Espeon asked this time. The group took a sharp turn to the left in order to avoid an oncoming obstacle.

Spinda halted in his tracks as though suddenly realizing that these guys didn't have his taste in fun. "Oh…" He seemed unaware of the Beedrill gaining up on him.

"Spinda get out of there!" Pikachu yelled halting as well.

Espeon wasn't as polite. "You're in danger you moron!"

But it was too late, the Beedrill already were on the attack with Twinneedle and Poison Jab ready to puncture the normal type's soft flesh. But they missed when Spinda flopped his face on the ground.

In retaliation the Beedrill came back for him, not only that but Pikachu and Espeon both were going to try to Quick attack the bug types before they could land a hit.

But the Spinda just grinned. Pointing a single finger upward he said his attack. "Aura Sphere." The blue dots glowed with the power of aura and on his finger a blue ball shot out and knocked all the bug types down, despite of the type advantage.

Pikachu and Espeon halted, completely amazed at the power and the fact that a spinda used Aura Sphere. They watch as the Beedrill, defeated, retreat to their nest. Spinda waved at them as he watched them go. "Bye Bye!" He said almost like he had forgotten that they were trying to attack a few seconds ago.

When he turned to the other two Pokémon, both still held the shock look on their faces. "What?" Spinda asked feeling a bit uncomfortable with their stares.

Pikachu shook his head trying to get his thoughts together. "I- I don't get it. How is it possible, for—a spinda to use Aura Sphere?"

"Actually that would explain his blue color… are they—"

"YES! They are Aura anchors!" Spinda exclaimed. "Normally my kind wouldn't be able to utilize aura, BUT! Where I come from, my kind is specially bred to have aura. So! Now you can confidently say that you have met the wonderful Spinda-The-Aura-User."

The two others sweat dropped at his erratic attitude. "Geez, who the heck is this guy's trainer?" Pikachu asked his psychic type partner.

His question was answered surprisingly when a voice called out. "SPINDA! Where are you, you crazy Pokémon?" Through the greenery steeped out Jed Stone followed by his Nidoking.

Spinda jumped in joy seeing his trainer. "Master Master Look what new friends I made!" Of course Jed didn't understand what his Pokémon was saying. But he did see, Pikachu and Espeon giving him a curious look.

"Hey Your Ash's Pikachu and Anabel's Espeon right? What are you two doing out here?" He asked picking up his Spinda.  
Both the Pokémon smirked at each other finding it fitting that this erratic Spinda belonged to an erratic trainer.

Jed sighed. "Well you two have probably already figured out my starters special move didn'cha?" He smiled when he saw all three nodded. "Ah… well." He crouched down to their eye level. "I wanted to surprise Ash tomorrow when I challenge him to a battle. You'll keep this a secret right?" He asked the Pokémon with a wink.

Pikachu nodded vigorously, excited to what tomorrow might bring. "You got it."

"Oh Boy a battle!" Spinda exclaimed squirming making it difficult for Jed to hold him. "Can't wait! Can't Wait!"

"Hey now settle down." Jed said firmly placing Spinda on his head. "Hmmm, how bout you two come along with us." He offered his hands to hold them.

The two didn't hesitate, Pikachu hopping on his shoulder and Espeon curling up on his arms.  
On the side, Nidoking chuckled a bit, his voice sounding a bit rough if not grown-up. "Hehe. You should've let me do this Jed. I'm a lot stronger than you." To let his trainer know of his intentions the duel poison/ground type offered his arms to carry the other Pokémon.  
But Jed just shook his head.  
"Naw I got it Nidoking."

The four Pokémon and the human walked on the path taken by the latter hopefully leading them all to the open and away from the dangers. The Pokémon said nothing, already exhausted by their latest adventure, and so the ease the quiet Jed spoke.

"I'm glad that Ash and Anabel are together." The Aura Philosopher smiled. "It must be a doozy for them, experiencing something like that at their age. It just makes me so happy to see those two happy." He laughed. "Sometimes I wonder why I get so excited when people are joyful. I guess you could say that I like a Togakiss." This made the rest of the Pokémon laugh with him.

* * *

Ash stood with mind blank. Oh how he wished he still had a mind set to be completely dense to what his mother had just said. But unfortunately that time has passed; his ignorance can no longer save him.

"So…" Our hero was at lost for words; nothing could really describe the moment. He couldn't say he regretted asking his mother about girls—  
But he defiantly didn't expect THAT speech about… things.

"Well you asked for it." His mother told him bluntly. She too was not comfortable about the 'Talk' but it was a huge relief off her shoulders now that it was finished.

"Yeah but that—I really didn't—"

"Would you rather have Brock tell you about it?"

He eyes became startled, he clenched his hands. "No." Ash said truefully. It was probably for the best he got the 'Talk' now from his mother instead of in the future by someone else. Compared to the awkwardness of that instead of now would probably scar him more than he already was (including about the gender-bender scenario about marrying Jed).  
"Guess it was for the best right?"

"Hmm I suppose so." She placed a hand on her son's shoulder. "Now then that done, let us never speak of this again."

"Agreed." In turned he did hug his mother. "It was great seeing you again Mom. You've been helping me out a lot. Then again you've always had."

Delia smiled and messed up her son's hair. "Well, I think it is about time that I put more of an active effort in my son's life." She giggled. "Besides, it will be easier now that there is one more women to look after my little man for me."

Like a light bulb, Ash's faced burned bright red. "Geez mom knock it off. First Anabel makes me blush now you." But it was all in good humor. Once again, the mother and son waved each other off, glad to see each other once again. And like a trainer and a Pokémon, reuniting with a parent gave off a stronger bond than the last time they saw each other.

* * *

"Well we're finally out in the open!" Jed exclaimed setting his Pokémon passengers down on the dirt road. "Now promise me you won't go getting lost again right guys?"  
But Pokémon all laughed sheepishly.

Spinda turned to the electric type and psychic type. "Today was so much fun! I'm glad I was able to meet with you two! Sorry about getting us lost though… I have a bad sense of direction." His little paw rubbed the back of his huge head.

"It's alright Spinda." Espeon closed her eyes. "There will probably more adventures to come."

Pikachu nodded. "Yeah, that is if you will continue to hang out with us."

Spinda eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? Aw that's really swell! Oh! But not tomorrow."

Both Pokémon tilted their heads trying to figure out what he meant. "Why?"

The Spot Panda Pokémon giggled. "Have you already forgotten? We're going to battle!" With that said he hopped on his trainer's shoulders. "Better be prepared Pikachu! I'm coming for ya!"

"Alright see you tomorrow!" Pikachu started waving when Jed and Spinda started to go back to the Pokémon center.

Bye Bye!"

"What a weird Pokémon." Pikachu said to the Sun Pokémon.

Espeon shrugged. "Meh. The more the merrier.

* * *

The sun hung straight above and over the sky, warming the land; midday wild Pokémon were napping and the tone of the hours turned to a lazy and slow pace. Ash too felt the need leisurely pace when he wandered back to the Anabel's cottage now remembering to make the Salon Maiden a treat when she got back. His talk with his mother really gave him something to think about (that did not involve anything about the Pidgeot and the Beedrill or the gender-bending scenario with Jed), was the fact on how his friends would act when how the relationship will affect his life.

Will he stop traveling across the lands searching for new competitions? Will it affect his friendships with his other friends… in fact… how would they all react?

"Hehe." Ash chuckled while he prepared a meal. "They would probably be all surprised by this." He said to himself. He heard a noise coming from the front, and saw Pikachu and Espeon dragging their paws across the carpet.  
"You guys seem bushed. Rough day?" He asked the two unique starters.

"Espe…"  
"Pika pika…" Came there tired replies. Both slumped near his feat and sighed. Out of sympathy, Ash picked both up and carried them to a nearby chair. Both of the Pokémon sighed in relief causing the trainer to chuckle again. "How bout I get you guys something to eat?" He petted their heads and went to the front of the house where Anabel usually kept the Pokémon food.  
But before he could come back in the house, another visitor appeared who shocked Ash seeing who it was.

"Hello boy."

Ash nearly dropped the bowls of Pokémon food he was carrying. "Brandon?" He exclaimed. The elder man nodded still sporting the same board look and intense stare he had at the Saffron Conference. "What are you doing here?" It wasn't that Brandon's presence wasn't welcome, but it wasn't exactly common for the Ruin's Expert to comingle without an important reason.

"I went to see Anabel." He answered bluntly as though it was obvious. Ash looked even more surprised that such a statement came from Brandon.

This didn't escape the Pyramid King's notice. "What's the matter boy? Can a teacher not visit his student when he feels like it? Or do you really think I am that stern of a man who gives no affection to those he's grown to care about?"

"Oh-no no! I didn't mean to offend you sir! I—" He stopped when Brandon looked obviously annoyed with his rambling.

"It's good to see you restored back to your normal state." He said as to change the subject.

Ash looked at his injured state confused. As far as Ash was concerned, having an arm in a sling and having your torso wrapped in bandages doesn't really qualify as normal. "Uh Brandon? I'm still healing from the Hyper Beams." He said gesturing to his bandages.

"I didn't indicate anything about your physical self." He tapped on his forehead showing what he was talking about. "You seem to have snuffed out the last of the effect of the evil King of Poke'lantis. You have regained the fire of battle back and seemed to have grown much stronger within yourself and with your Pokémon." Brandon took the bowls of Pokémon food from the younger boy. "Come. Let's go inside and help ourselves to some tea."

Inside, Pikachu and Espeon snaked on their treat while the two humans sat on the table with the steaming cups of what was apparently everyone's favorite drink.

"So how goes your progress with becoming a Frontier Brain?" The elder asked.

Ash visible amber eye glowed with the warm memories of experience he has been having at the Battle Tower. "Great! Anabel's a great teacher. I have been learning so much and not just about battling." He grinned. "I've been learning about people Pokémon, and the other duties about being a Battle Brain."

Brandon nodded approving. "Good. No longer you seem like the boy with a single tract mind that I battled a year ago. You have developed a wild look that speaks of experience and determination that is only achieved by knowledge."

Ash accepted this rare comment with good grace. "Thank you, but I still have a long way to go."

Brandon nodded. "And admitting that is the first step towards you goal. I assume that Anabel has told you her story about meeting me."

Ash cringed a bit, sympathizing with Anabel's younger self having to battle this fierce man who he himself knew first hand of the elder's lack of mercy in battle. "Yeah… How was it like training her to become a Frontier Brain?"

A look of nostalgia came across the ruins expert's face, a look that Ash never thought he would see on the elder. "Hmmm… she was dedicated, and yet very confused." Brandon said before taking another sip of his tea. "Apparently from her past, she never got to interact much with humans, talking with Pokémon came more naturally to her than anything else. It has always made me wonder what events in her life made her that way." A small dash of sadness crossed his eyes. "As you can tell, her bond with Pokémon grows more strongly every passing year. My time with her was spent less on battling but more on giving her what she really needed."

Ash titled his head. "What was that?"

"A family." The Pyramid King saw the befuddled look and sigh. "Anabel needed to know how to bond with human like she did, as it is critical for a Battle Brain to communicate with both sides. I took her to the other Brains, where she trained with each of them for a week and eventually she became more open with people and began to activity pursue getting to know battlers." This he smiled slightly. "It is because of this reason why she is the second most powerful of us all."

They stayed silent for a while, for Ash to digest what he just heard. More and more was Anabel's past revealed to him; the more he heard the more he came to realize that she was different from him. But that was okay. It was great knowing more about the girl he really liked.

After a while Brandon spoke up. "It seems to me that you to have developed a close bond with each other, one that goes beyond simple friendship."

This was the second time someone has rightly accused him of liking Anabel and though he was a bit more prepared, it still surprised him that people could figure it out so easily. " Geez O'peet First my mom now you. Is it really that obvious?" He asked with his face blushing red once again and his arm scratching the back of his head.

Brandon shrugged. "Not to the common person. As like your mother is close to you, I am close to Anabel and I have stated the same thing to her. And she told the truth as to be expected." He took one last swing of tea before looking at Ash with a very intense stare. One that was akin to almost a glare. "Now listen here Ash."

Out of reflexes Ash gulped. "Y-ee-ss?" It was like staring at the eyes of legendary with this man.

"Though we are not biologically related, Anabel and I share the relationship of father and daughter. I care about her dearly." He stood up leaning a bit closer causing Ash to lean back on his chair. "Now listen here young man, though I know you have a good heart, I will make you life _very_ difficult if you hurt Anabel's heart you understand Ash."

It wasn't a question it was a fact.

"Yes Sir." Ash said trying to keep his voice calm. _'All this romance stuff is serious business.'_ He thought before finding his voice again. "I- I never even thought of harming her—sir." He added that at the end to show respect.

The Pyramid King cast one last glance towards the young trainer to see if he was telling the truth. "Very well Ash." He stood up to take a leave, but looked over his shoulder one last time. "I expect you to make much more progress by the end of your training, both in terms of physical, mentally, and in a relationship."

No reply came when Brandon left, and once he was out of sight, the Ruin's expert dialed a number on the phone.  
"Hello? You're Scott's newest secretary? Hmmm, yes I'll leave a message. Tell him that it was before the three months were up and I won. No no… he'll understand what I meant."

* * *

Ash waited, with two fruit shakes that he made for the Salon Maiden and him, and wondered where she was. But he understood that she could still be busy. Waiting he was reading some books about different region, from Kanto to Sinnoh and all the islands in between and even discovered about another land called Orre that held no native Pokémon. Ash couldn't imagine living in such a desolate place. And when he was about to turn to the U section of the book, Anabel came in holding something.

Ash's got up immediately seeing what it was. "Is that a Pokémon Egg? How did you get that?" He asked.

Anabel looked proudly at the shell that held life. It was orange with black spots and white spots with a blue spot right on the top. "Brandon came in today and gave it to me as a gift. He said it would remind me of my home but I have no idea what he means by that."

"Your home?" Ash asked quizzled.

"Oh I guess I never told you." Anabel looked mildly surprised. "I'm not from Kanto."

"Oh!" Ash looked very surprised at this news. "So where are you from?" He asked suddenly very excited to know where she was from. _'Was she from Sinnoh… no, maybe from Hoenn since she has a Metagross!'_

Anabel went to the table recognizing the book he was reading before she came in. "I came from a very far away land." She said turning the page. Ash saw that it was another region entirely one that he never heard of before. "I come from the region of Unova, You can only reach it by plane or boat and it takes at least several days to get there."

"What's it like there?" He asked.

"Well… it's pretty advance and it contains a whole new spectrum of Pokémon. In fact Pikachu would actually be considered very rare there."

"Really?" Ash was excited now. A whole new region full of Pokémon that have never been seen before? "That's awesome! I would love to go there sometime!"

Anabel gave him a smile but seemed to be a bit sad at the same time. "Well, I wouldn't stop you from it."

"It would be better if you came with me." He said suddenly; his face once again blushing. He still wasn't use to the fact that everything he said to Anabel seemed to mean a bit more.

"Oh… thanks Ash. But I haven't been there in a long time, in fact I never entered the league. I wouldn't be much help." She laughing a bit at that fact.

"All the more reason why we should travel together." Ash said not giving up the fact that it would be some much fun to travel with Anabel

His positive attitude was contagious as Anabel to soon found herself grinning. "That would sound a lot of fun. Alright. we'll go after the Battle Frontier is finished. We'll go to Unova together."

Another promise for another time. One that neither intend to break. Showing the strength of this developing relationship that both had to offer.

End of Chapter 16

* * *

**Hope you liked it. I gave it my best and I hope you like the relationship between Brandon and Anabel. And yes Anabel is from Unova, thought it was a cool plot point.**

**Thank you and please review.**


	17. No one teaches Pokemon ED like Jed

**Before we begin-**

For everyone who has lost something in the Colorado fire, please note that this author too has lost something. I can sympathize with all of you and it is devastating to what is happening right now.

I pray for a swift recovery for all of us here.

**Hi... everyone. I'm posting this just before Midnight... so I did keep my promise of having up before 4 days where over.**

**Hope you enjoy it. By the way the evolution should be obvious now thanks to some of the comments...**

**Secrets guys!**

**Prepare yourself for some comedy, battle royal and a cute little scene at the end! **

**You know the drill as please post constructive criticism on the review page or private message me about any mistakes. I will try to fix them.  
**

**Thanks to all who has reviewed and it is just great seeing... that people really do enjoy my story. It is the entertainment of the readers that I work for. No personal glory in it.**

**I enjoy making you guys smile.**

******Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One side to Another  
By True-InTha-Blue  
Chapter 17

No one teaches Pokemon ED like Jed

(One month and half after the initiation)

* * *

It was the next day after Ash received so many visitors. It was peaceful if not a bit stormy. Dark clouds seem to slowly cover the sky like a blanket, holding the gallons of rain that was sure to come. But both Pokemon and Human anticipated it for the hot weather lately, that was unusual to Kanto, had been far uncomfortable.  
Far away from these clouds, thunder crashed and roared like cymbals, charging the air with excitement and warned others of the storm eventually to come.

So while the more exposed residents of the Trojo falls area ducked and prepared for cover, our heroes where quiet safe in the 99th floor of the Battle Tower, aware but unconcerned about the weather. The 99th floor was sort of Anabel's private training arena or an VIP battle room, however sparsely used because the Salon Maiden preferred to train outside.  
Inside the roles between teacher and student were switched, for there was one subject that Ash could boast that he knew about more than the Salon Maiden.

"You gotta be careful with Pokemon Eggs." Ash said while he held the egg up high while he inspected it. "But at the same time you got to give it movement, that way the Poke'mon inside knows that it hasn't been abandoned." He handed the egg back to Anabel who held it close.

"Really? So tell me again how you came across all this knowledge of parenting a Poke'mon egg." She said with a bit of humor in her voice. It was funny to her, as well as all of their Poke'mon who decided to be with them, that Ash was the more maternal of the two.  
This did not escape Ash's notice as he shot her a slight but non-malicious glare. "I've just happened to have experience with eggs before. It all started in the Johto region when I was eleven. Professor Elm gave me an egg to deliver to Mt. Silver. It hatched into a Larvitar that Pikachu and I became close to. I was able to deliver it back to its mother, and in that time I was able to learn about younger Pokemon and taking care of the egg."

Ash crossed both of his arm, now that he was freed from the sling.

This morning Ash woke up that he was able to move around more without wincing and that his arm was now no longer sprained. Thank goodness for Pokemon healing therapy.

"The next Egg I got was a prize in a race hosted by some Pokemon breeders. That hatched into a phanphy which later turned into my Donphan." He paused a bit. "Both of those times taught me how to take care of those eggs. This also included the time when May got her Eevee and Brock got a Happiny. I took it into consideration to observe them. For future use of course."

But once again Anabel smirked. "Or you just like being a parent and love to coddle Eggs." She laughed again when Ash quickly looked away; her assumption correct. But secretly to her, Anabel thought it was very cute of Ash to have such an affection to Pokemon eggs and younger Pokemon. Her thoughts where interrupted when the two Kirlia she had tapped for her attention.

"Kir-li-a?" The female asked her. The two younger Kirlia wanted to see the egg she held, these two have always been the more curious ones in the Salon Maiden's team.

"Be careful with it." She told them gentle while handing them the egg. Both the male and female psychic types looked at it with awe, pressing their ear against it as to hear the creature inside.

"Kir kir?" The male asked her.

"What's he say?" Ash asked casually. His eyes observed the Pokemon carefully wanting to see how other Pokemon reacted to other Pokemon eggs.

"He wonders what's in it. Honestly Kirlia I don't know. I just know it will be a new Pokemon that none of us have ever encountered." Both of the Poke'mon looked excited about this, they weren't the only ones though. Anabel heard from the Pokemon groups farther off what they thought it might be. But with so little clues, their guess was as good as hers.

So she went back to the discussion at hand. "So when will I know when it is about to hatch?"

Anabel didn't want to be suddenly surprised one day of a brand new Poke'mon causing who knows how much havoc.

Ash carefully studied the egg again before offering more advice. "When it's about to hatch, the egg will start moving a lot and begin to glow." A crash of lightning from afar made him pause again. "It would be best if we took it to the Pokemon center so that the nurse joy can monitor it's health."

"So after it hatches?" Anabel asked wanting to hear more. As a trainer who had never had any real experience with newborn Pokemon, it was fascinating to hear about from Ash. _'And people say he's completely dense.'_

Ash took on a sheepish look when he remembered his experiences with newborn Pokemon. He saw Donphan laugh probably remembering when he was just hatched. "Well… make sure the Pokemon gets lots of experience with you before trying to capture it with a Poke'Ball. Play with it and introduce it to your other Pokemon. Believe me when I tell you that you do not want to lose sight of it." Once again Ash winced at the memory.

"Alright." Anabel said trying not to look to amused by his facial expressions. Sometimes the Salon Maiden really did wish she had the ability to read minds, it would be fascinating to see all the adventures Ash had gone through. _'But then again, it would be boring to do that, especially in a Poke'mon battle.'  
_She stared at the egg with uncontainable excitement. Another new friend to meet. The prospect of the unknown made her smile.

Ash saw this, and began to blush once again. He knew what she was thinking, living with her for more than a month gives you that type of insight. But his thoughts were put to a halt when a particularly large bolt of lightning accompanied by a crack of thunder startled him. Ash, with various others of Pokemon, gave out a yelp.

"Gees'o'Pete! Anabel are you sure it's a good idea to be this high up on a _metal_ tower with this type of storm?" To his everlasting awe Anabel seemed unaffected by this.

"Don't worry Ash. This thing has survived through the worst of storm and has never been struck by lightning; in fact, you could say this is the safest place during the time of a storm." She grinned before looking out to the window. "Isn't it amazing?"

"What is?"

"The storms. Due to our world, we don't know if they are caused by nature or Pokemon. It's really quite a mystery isn't it?" She grinned at Ash broadly.

And our Ash, couldn't help but grin back. "Ah That's our Anabel. Always trying to find the oddity in things."

"Hey." Anabel lightly slugged him on the shoulder careful to avoid his injuries. "Are you implying that I'm odd?"

Ash grinned. "Well I find it to be almost one of my favorite qualities of you."

Anabel smirked at him. "Ash Ketchum are you actually making a compliment to a girl?" She mocked surprise.

"Hey I'm not as completely dense as I was." Ash gestured to his recent growth in height. "I grew up a bit."

"And it's grace that gave that to us." A voice came from the entrance. Both of the teens turned to see Jed with his whole team out. Behind him was Nidoking, Froslass, Flygon Nuzleaf, and a Typhlosion. All of them where carrying large baskets like the Aura Philosopher. On his shoulder, a spinda was perched, however both of the other trainers raised an eyebrow about its odd blue color.

"Jed what are you doing here?" Ash asked trying not to sound rude.

The aura Philosopher smiled a lifted the basket he was holding slightly, his Pokemon mimicking this action. "Picnic anyone? I was planning to do this outside, however the weather seems to disagree with my plans. Besides, who wants to have food go to waste?"

"You made all of that for everyone here?" That was a feat alone, for three humans, but for over several teams of Pokemon for three humans?

Jed shrugged. "I have a lot of time on my hands Miss Anabel." Without another word Jed and his Pokemon started to unpack the picnic baskets right in the middle of the battle field, and with the grace of one who willingly calls himself a servant for other, Jed was able to finish it all in less than five minutes.

The humans and the Poke'mon looked at the food with hunger. On a large purple sheet, assortments of food was laid out. Fresh fruit and vegetable packed in ice, some whole while others sliced, still freshly picked. Berries from common to the nicely rare were stacked on a plate. They were so perfectly ripe that the sweet succulent smell was coming off of them. But these were only the appetizers. The main dishes were an assortment of all sorts of foods, soups that ranged from creamy and buttery, to savory and full of flavor. Breads that held croissant and fine French bread, perfect for the deli tray and the assortment of condiments and jams. Salads that had been tossed just right and a few delectable desserts.

And bowing like the gentlemen he was Jed gestured to the food. "Let's eat."

* * *

"MAN! This is good." Ash complimented Jed while they ate. Everyone was eating in enjoyment as the storm began to open up at let lose the torrent of rain on the earth. It gave everyone a chance to talk to each other, including opening up a question that Ash had been wanting to ask the erratic Aura Philosopher.  
"So Jed, where are you from?" He asked making sure he swallowed before asking.

"Hmmm?" Jed couldn't speak because his mouth was full of bread. "What do you mean?"

It was quite obvious to everyone that Jed was purposely ignoring the question.

Though it confused Ash to why his friend was near almost ignoring him; Anabel who knew Jed better, knew that the Aura Philosopher didn't want to delve in his own past.

Not for any negative reasons, but more or less, Jed did not care for his past.

"C'mon Jed." Anabel edged him on. "I don't know where you come from either."

Jed sighed, knowing that two stubborn trainers would cause him more trouble than it's worth. "Oh alright. I come from Sinnoh… well not exactly."

"Come again?" Ash questioned wondering what he meant.

"West of Iron Island, more south like than the mainland, is a fairly large island called Merry Isle. It hosts a large population of Aura users there. The most concentrated in the world almost." He paused for a bit. "Of course that doesn't stop us from inviting people, we do have tourist attractions."

"So—" Ash began to ask only to be cut off by a quick look from Jed.  
"I respect you Ash, but that is all the information I am willing to express… for now." Jed said nice enough but firmly.

The Pikachu trainer's eyebrows furrowed together. Out of all the personalities that he had come across the various of people in his travels, Jed certainly threw him off of the norm. Nice enough at first, a bit odd and then cold when it came to the subject about himself. He looked towards Pikachu who shrugged and Anabel who slightly smiled as if to tell him that this was normal behavior.

Next thing they knew Jed was hovering over Ash. "And now Ash, for what I am really here for." The Philosopher took out a Poke'Ball and in usual Pokemon Trainer like fashion he struck a pose. "I challenge you to a battle!"

To came to shock for everyone except a certain Pikachu and Espeon for certain reason's of course. Ash stood up to face Jed, which his eyes came to the taller trainer's chin, the expression he wore was of a good humored amusement. "What brought this on?" He asked.

Jed smirked slightly. "Well… several reason's in fact. First let's see how much you've learned since you started becoming a Frontier Brain. Second, we are going to be using Aura Powers in this battle… just so you prepare yourself."

"Aura Powers? Is that… is that even allowed?" Ash asked a bit surprised. Wouldn't launching an Aura Sphere at the opposing trainer be considered illegal?

Anabel sensing what he was getting at explained things to Ash. "Ash what Jed is trying to say that Aura is a part of yourself, it is another sense to use in battle. Some people have quicker eyesight, keen hindsight, better hearing and so on that they all use to get the better advantage of others. Like my Ability, Aura is just another slight advantage that people are born with."

Ah now Ash understood. It was a great help to him having Anabel explain these things. _'Guess it could be another reason why I like her so much.'_ He thought with an inward grin.

Jed nodded. "Miss Anabel's right Ash. Third is to see if you can handle it with your current state, and if we can do this than we should be able to assume that you will heal quickly. And lastly… for fun. I challenge you Ash Ketchum, not as a simple trainer but as the Frontier Brain you are to become."

Ash nodded with confidence. "I accept you challenge." He said without missing a beat. "The terms?"

"A six-on-six battle." Ash looked at Jed with surprise. So Jed wanted to go all out then so be it. Ash would prove that he was more than capable to handle that challenge.

"Fine then let's see what you got!"

"Hold it you too." Anabel said before the boys could launch into battle. "Don't you think we should clean up first?" She said in an exasperated tone.

Both of them, now looking at the mess, blushed a bit from embarrassment. "Oops..." Looking down in shame for their rash behavior they apologized to the Salon Maiden and quickly cleaned up with the help of their Pokemon.

* * *

Once done both of the boys gave each other a look. "Oi... That was embarrassing." Jed said still a bit red from his silly mistake.

Ash looked at Jed. "Relax man. You take the smallest of things too seriously. Are you going to act this way when we battle?"

Jed smirked. "Heck no!" His jacket was off followed by his gray hat showing of his pearl white hair. "C'mon Ash pick out your team since you've seen mine. It's only fair." He said already collecting his Pokemon in their Poke'balls.

"Pikachu!" Ash smiled picking Pikachu up. This was obvious; Jed seemed like a good battler and picking his own starter would give Jed a run for his money. To counter Ash also picked Totdile, Donphan, Heracross, Gible, and Torkoal. It would give Ash a wide range of attacks to counter, Jed's types. Not only that but also give all of the Pokemon a good amount of experience.

Anabel would be a referee of course; Espeon by her side as the rest of Ash's and hers Pokemon stood on the stadium watching the action.

And for once in his life, on an actual battle field, it was Ash's turn to be on the other side of fight.

Jed came up, tossing a Poke'Ball up and down. "Ready Ketchum?" He asked when he tossed his Poke'Ball one more time before taking stance.

"You bet!" Ash exclaimed rearing and ready to go. Both trainers waited for Anabel's call.

Seeing them ready to go, like good referee fashion she announced the rules. "Alright you two, listen up. The challenger Jed Stone has challenged you Ash Ketchum to a six-on-six battle. And as the rules of all professional Pokemon battles only the challenger can change Pokemon. Now begin."

Now firstly, you would see the Pokemon move first, but this was a battle with Aura users, the rules differ from the norm.  
Jed's green eyes intensified and flared as his power activated.  
Ash took a little longer, still inexperienced. But now both eyes where slightly blue. And it was weird.

Aura sight is a bit different. To Ash, though he could still see everything, it was like everything was intensified and brighter. And everything glowed with their Signature, his Pokemon a rainbow of flaring colors that mixed and shined. Anabel was surrounded by a white signature and Jed had a green one. But unlike the others, Jed had a white center as did Ash himself. This showed that they had the power of auras inside of them.

Across the battle field Jed smiled to himself lightly. _'Let's see how great is this untrained legendary aura fairs against an experienced weaker one. Alright Ash show me what you got.'_

In a snap the battle started.

"Alright Torkoal let's go!"

"Bring it to them Nidoking!"

The their respective white lights, the orange and black shelled tortoise and the large heavy weighted duel type were on the battle field. Their trainers wasted no time to launch their moves.

"Nidoking start with Megahorn!" Jed said knowing that the challenger goes first. The great purple beast roared when his main front horns glowed white before charging in literally head on.

Even before Jed started speaking, Ash was listing any counter moves he could against the Nidoking. "Torkoal, Iron defense!"

Despite of its looks, the fire type was fast enough to sink in his shell and activated the silver sheen of the defense move just before Nidoking was two steps away.  
The attack defiantly did less damage than it was suppose to. But the Poison type with it's sheer offensive power managed to push Torkoal a bit, a feat itself considering how high of defense the fire tortoise has.

Ash was about the give a counter attack but was stopped when Jed quickly ordered Nidoking to jump back.  
Despite of it's size, the purple Pokemon jumped back gracefully with out hindrance. Seeing the surprised faces at both Ash and Anabel, Jed, in a non-arrogant way, smiled. "Every good trainer has some area they have their Pokemon focus on. What I do is have my Pokemon train where they are weak. Like Nidoking here. Normally a slow Pokemon but with my help, he's faster than the average and has a nice amount of acrobatics on the side."

It became clear to our hero that this battle would be far from normal. _'Alright Ash you need to step up your a-game. Jed's got the stat weaknesses of his Pokemon covered probably all of them; plus he has that one technique where he powers up the moves of his Pokemon... Let's see here-" _But Ash had no time to think he saw Nidoking flipping up in the air.

"Alright now Double Kick!" Jed cried out.

In almost a panic Ash's Aura sight flared to life and... it was almost like he could see the where the poison type was going to land, its aim and such. Though this helped, it was still a problem getting Torkoal out of there.

But Ash got a plan. "Torkoal, use FlameThrower on the ground to get out of there!"

Out of its mouth, the torrent of flame stuck the ground and almost humorously the fire type lifted its legs to be carried away backwards.

All of this happened so fact that Nidoking didn't have time to change direction and landed right in the powerful fire. It's feet where blackened and to make matters worse for Nidoking, the small little flame appeared on it, showing the status condition of being burned.

But this didn't seem to bother Jed. In fact Ash was very surprised to see the Aura philosopher leaping up in excitement.

Stars where in his eyes when he shouted with joy. "THAT WAS COOL! Awesome Ash!" He gave a thumbs up. But then went back to battle mode. "Don't think I'm out yet. Nidoking Slide and use Ancient Power with your tail!"

"Torkoal use overheat to melt them!"

"Nido NIDOKING!" The poison type had the ground rise up and while doing that gained speed before gaining momentum on sliding the ground before pounding the empowered rocks with his tail.  
Meanwhile Torkoal unleashed a solid wave of pure and suffocating heat in order to at least destroy some if not slow down the whole attack

The move was too fast for the rocks to be melted, and hurtled strait towards Torkoal. The fire type was battered back and gave several moans of pain.

It looked like this would be the end for poor Torkoal but like the loyal Pokemon it was it stood strong for his trainer.  
But Ash still worried. "Torkoal how ya feeling?"

"Pikachu?"

Torkoal could have wept right then and there for the concern but instead gave a confident "Torkoal" and blew smoke from his nose and shell like a train. Ash grinned but gave a look seeing a sheen surrounding Nidoking.

_'That's right'_ Ash thought to himself remembering a previous battle. _'Ancient power has the side effect of sometimes increasing your Pokemon's stats... So that was his plan.'_  
So Jed used that side effect to boost Nidokings power and defense in order to finish of Torkoal quickly before burn could, plus it sort of canceled out having injured feet when it's already tremendous speed increased.

"But that won't bother me!" Ash exclaimed before giving his next order. "Torkoal use body slam!" Doing just that, Torkoal leaped high in the air showing his belly area

On the other side of the battle field Jed smirked while his aura sight lit up. "You won't get me that easy. Nidoking! Ready a poison jab!" Jed's Aura sight could help him predict when Torkoal was about to hit, so that way his Poison type would easily punch him out of the way in the vulnerable underbelly before Body Slam could reach him.

But Ash had another plan besides that. "Torkoal! Use Flamethrower around you then use Iron Defense."

"What?"  
"WHAT?" Anabel and Jed exclaimed seeing this odd combination of moves. However the Torkoal did not even hesitate following his trainer's commands. The fire wrapped around while the sliver sheen of Iron Defense took place. Followed by the height of which Body Slam got it to, the fire type, now a flaming ball descended down right towards Nidoking.

Jed knew he couldn't stop this attack with a simple Poison Jab, even with a powered up Nidoking. So this left only one option left. The smart but uncreative one. "NIDOKING DODGE!"

But curse his luck when Nidoking winced when the burn effect happened right then and there. It slowed the duel type down considerably, and though it managed not be directly in the attack, that did not really matter.

Torkoal was now a flaming meteor, the flames so intense that it was now the main source of light in the room. It touched down and unleashed a mass wave of heat and power.  
Nidoking was engulfed and couldn't be seen anymore. Ash, Pikachu, Anabel and all the Pokemon observers had to turn away from it so not to be blinded. And poor Jed who was right next to the attack was blown away by the force.

* * *

They had to be sure it was safe before they all opened their eyes. One side of the battle field had been reduced to scorched ground with a crater at the end. Torkoal appeared to be find if not completely black from fire. There was rubble everywhere and Jed was way out of the battle field on his back. The two trainers and Pikachu, watched as the Aura Philosopher slowly sat up rubbing his head. His black shirt was covered in ash and his white hair and streaks of black and gray. His green eyes, now void of aura, were dazed and disoriented.

"Oi... that's was- Nido-king? Nidoking?" Everyone looked frantically for the Poison Ground type but he was no where to be found. Jed eyes flared to life again with aura as he began to search for his friend.

Worry was amongst them all, it wasn't like anyone suspected the worst but... there are some injuries that no one wanted to see on anyone's Poke'mon

After a while after wondering all over the battle field, Jed ran towards a hill of rocks on the battle field and began lifting the rocks on there. He was surprised when Ash, Anabel ,Pikachu and even Torkoal began to help. Lifting one more rock revealed Nidoking's face alive and... well as good as you could be after being hit by a fairly small makeshift meteor.

With a large groan, it sat up making the rest of the rubble fall to the ground while it rubbed its head.

All the trainers and Pokemon were relived to see it okay and Jed sported a good ol smile as he helped his larger friend up to his feet. Well let's say tried. It took all three trainers to help the monster Pokemon up and they all ended up gasping and panting by the end of it.

Ash turned to Jed with a very sorrowful look.

"What's that look for?" Jed said with a clip.

Ash was taken aback. "I'm... I'm sorry for what happened... I didn't know-"

"And that's why you shouldn't be sorry." Jed said now having a big grin. "Battles are for experimentation and risk must be taken. Don't worry about Nidoking and I Ash. Besides, you can feel sorry after I beat ya right?" The Aura Philosopher held out his hand while his Poison type was behind him showing that they were ready to continue the battle.

Pleasantly surprised at this, Ash shook their hands.

Before you know it they were back on the battle field and Nidoking and Torkoal still showed their competitive spirits.

Both trainers where ready to go!

"Torkoal use flamethrower one more time!"

"Nidoking show them Poison Jab!"

Eager by their trainers fire, both Pokemon charged at each other and were going to collide.

Closer...

Closer.

Closer!

But then... Nidoking stopped. And Torkoal stopped out of surprise. And then everyone saw it.

On Nidoking,  
a small flame,  
the status affliction,  
Burn.

And in a climatic roar Nidoking fainted in heap of dust.

Watch the battle field got silent as everyone watched in awe of the anticlimactic and unsuspecting defeat. Ash and Pikachu stood jaw dropped on the opposite end without a clue to what just occurred. Anabel and the rest of the Pokemon who where on the side were a lost for words. Now being a Frontier Brain Anabel has seen a lot of battles with all sorts of Pokemon combinations and people. But never in her career has a battle ever ended like... _that!_

And last we have Jed. For a moment he was silent but then he started to shake, and a small noise came from him that soon erupted in gut-clenching laughter. It startled everyone to why he did this, for he just lost the first battle in really.. a very anticlimactic way.

But he did not notice this when he pulled Nidoking's Poke'Ball out and called the beast back in chuckling but then smiling. "Good battle eh buddy? You where always one to pull of stunts like that." Putting it always he called out to Ash and Anabel. "Don't just stand there gaping like a magikarp. Anabel call the battle."

"Oh- what? Right." Anabel's thoughts snapped together. She raised her arm on Ash's side. "Nidoking has been knocked out and Ash with Torkoal are the victor for the match."

Ash heard none of this, not even when Jed called out his mighty Typhlosion. A small little jolt went through him, being shocked multiple times he didn't even need to look to see it was Pikachu's doing. But it was nice of the electric type to make his trainer get back on track.

"Are you ready for another round Torkoal?" Ash called out not at all deterred that his opponent had a fully charged Pokemon compared to Torkoal's beaten up state. Another thing about about being a Frontier Brain is to not let your challenger know that your worried. Besides, disregarding how the last match ended, the battle has only just begun and like all, anything can happen.

And like his trainer, Torkoal bellowed out loud followed up by blowing some smoke to show he was alright.  
Seeing his opponent rearing and ready to go, Jed grinned. "Ready Typhlosion?"

"Raaa!" The Volcano Poke'mon had flames come out from her back. The two trainer's faced off at each other, they and their Pokemon twitching for the call.

"Begin!"

"Torkoal!" Flamethrower Body Slam!" The fire type did just that and had a flaming belly dived strait on down!

But Jed was prepared. "Typhlosion! Use Strength on the ground and Flame Wheel!" The mammal fire type did the unusual approach with the move Strength. Normally used for arms, but not limited to just that. Say like legs for example. Typhlosion did just that, in leaping up in the air which thanks to Jed's previous Training was pretty high, so she was above Torkoal. Than it was a spin until she used Flame Wheel. With the momentum of being pulled by gravity, the two fire types collided in mid-air until two balls of fire descended down on the field. Another collision happened but not nearly as big as the previous one.

Smoke and dust came up but Typhlosion jumped out of it with out much of a scratch. She huffed eying the smoke waiting it to clear. In fact both trainers, Ash and Jed waited with baited breath to see what condition Torkoal was in.  
Ash could have called out a move but Torkoal couldn't see in there and a missed attack would give away his position; chances where unlikely that it would be pointed at Typhlosion anyway.

There wasn't really a sigh when Ash saw that Torkoal was unconscious. Really, Ash accepted this defeat in good graces. The trainer called his Pokemon back with a few words of kindness to offer. "That was amazing Torkoal. You gave it your all."

He could feel the warmth of his Pokemon's affection radiate from the small capsule that rested in his hand.

And then the burning started. A warmth started in his heart and spread through his veins; his blood boiling, senses sharpening and his mind racing. The fire of battle had been ignited and the next step of battle had just began. He reached for his next Poke'ball, a feral grin forming. "Alright Jed step it up a notch! Totodile let's go!"

The white light revealed the Big Jaw Poke'mon who in traditional fashion danced with merry and joy. Extra excited (if that was even possible) that he was now in a battle once again. "Totototototo DILE!"

Not at all confused or showing anything else besides utter battle prowess, Typhlosion gave a loud roar to counter Totodile's exuberant behavior.  
And despite of being at a type disadvantage the Aura Philosopher gave a smile. He could feel his opponent's spirit calling out for a righteous victory, so strong that one could almost hear the battle cry. The green aura in his eye's flashed bright.  
So Ash wanted to more of a challenge? _'Alright then... let's if you can keep up Ketchum!'_

"Begin!" Anabel called out knowing that the two couldn't contain themselves any longer.

"Totodile use Crunch on the arms." The water type, jumped up slightly and charged forward with great speed and dust followed behind.

"Use Strength to swat him away girl!." The Volcano Poke'mon's arm glowed this time. She arched over ready to bat away any the smaller Pokemon.  
However, previously stated, this battle would be far from average.

"Totodile slide underneath the arms!" Without hesitation the Totodile picked up his feat and used the momentum gained by his outstanding speed to easy duck under any attack. But he just barely nipped the arms when Jed called out the next maneuver.

"Typhlosion jump away with Flamethrower on the ground." Swirls of fire hit the ground and took Totodile off the arm right into the heat of the inferno. But before it could hit Ash have an order for Water Gun. The two elemental attack collided and made steam cover the entire field, giving both the advantage and disadvantage.

"Solar Beam Typhlosion! Hearing this Ash strained his eyes to see in the battle field to where Totodile was in relation with his opponent's. It could be particularly _BAD _if Totodile was hit by a powerful grass type move. But Ash didn't really worry. "Totodile spin on your back and use Water Counter Shield!"  
It was a reference back in Sinnoh. Totodile had seen his trainer's water type Buizel preform this technique in the midst of training. It was no secret that Ash's non Sinnoh Pokemon had all been impressed. Flawlessly spinning despite of it's disproportionate head, water jetted out and started to grow wider and wider in range. The steam started to sink due to the coolness of the water. And slowly started to reveal the silhouette of the Volcano Pokemon.

Jed could do nothing really to change positions. Solar Beam had rendered his Pokemon motionless while the move charged up. An interesting fact is that even if Typhlosion could move, the awe of seeing the method of Counter Shield was amazing to see for the Aura Philosopher.  
After the battle was done, he told himself, he would defiantly gush on how cool Ash's ingenious moves were.

One of the streams managed to hit Typhlosion and soon many of them were making contact, but the fire type staying up as her back glowed brighter. But after five hits Typhlosion was obviously starting to weaken; her body was lowering as the attacks hammering one her.

"C'mon girl you can stay strong! Solar beam is almost there so hang on!" Jed cheered from the side. "Just a little longer!" Ash noticed that Jed lacked any sound of doubt; it was like he had the utmost confidence that his Pokemon would get back up.

And Typhlosion did. Like her trainer, his confidence became her strength while she roared at the attacks and the final charge of Solar Beam was complete."

"Totodile Jump!" Ash said fearing the worse

"Aim upwards at him!" Jed ordered just before his Poke'mon released the golden beam from her mouth. When she did, Totodile was up in the air but the Solar Beam was headed right towards him, so Ash pulled a desperate move. "Use Aqua Tail before it hits you!"

_'What's he up to this time?'_ Jed thought as he kept an eye on the battle. Aura sight granted the user to have a hint to what the opponent might do, there where limitations to it. An example was speed. As this battle just became faster to the point where the trainer's where just completely calling out orders based off of instinct and the few small glimpses of actions that the other does.

A blue watery surfaced on Totodile's tail and in mid air he turned and connected right when the Solar Beam enveloped him in the golden light.

The water type fell down to the ground and that was it right next to Typhlosion. But this is exactly what the Pikachu trainer wanted.

Ash saw as his Pokemon fell that Totodile still had kick to him. The Aqua Tail was used to dull the damage of Solar Beam, Totodile still was heavily damaged but still was able to come out conscious. The battle can not end yet!

"HEADBUTT!". Out of the dust the small blue Poke'mon nailed Typhlosion right in the jaw. The larger one fell on her back as Totodile was able to regain his position on his trainer's side. And slowly the Volcano Pokemon rose back to her feet despite of all the beating she took previously.  
The battle was dangerously on edge, both Pokemon taking major damage and it was already a matter of time before either one faints. SO the next moves had to be used with cation and patients. The Pokemon circled around each other on the field waiting for the next command.  
The human's where the same, staring intensely at the each other. This is the stage in battle where one must risk making the first move and having the opponent get a chance to counter.

Jed winced. _'Enough with this staring contest.'_

"Alright Typhlosion! Flamethrower!"

Ash's instincts told him that Jed was up to something. It was pretty obvious though, such a simple attack when they just pulled off. But he was caught off guard when the Aura Philosopher called for a Flame Wheel to follow through. Blaze had kicked in as Typhlosion's ability being more damaged than Totodile, and it only intensified when Jed used his method of using move types.

It was a huge wheel of fire and even more fire came out from the sides thus having Totodile trapped.

The move hit and the water type fainted with out much of a hassle.

"Totodile has been defeated in battle. Typhlosion is the winner!" Anabel said calling this round to a halt.  
So now the it was down with this Ash being out two Pokemon and Jed having only lost one. But plainly stated, Typhlosion could hardly stand up this time around.

Jed stared worriedly at his Pokemon hating to see her in this weaken condition. Before the next round started he tried to call her back, but the ol' girl was just too stubborn to get back and at least rest a little bit in the Poke'ball.

"Typhlosion please get back in." Jed called from the sides for the umpteenth time. The Volcano Pokemon huffed to show her annoyance about her trainer's persitance.

Anabel voiced the fire type's thoughts to him. "Jed I think she want's to keep battling until she faints. At least know that your not pushing her."

The Aura Philosopher sighed. "Guess I'm sticking with Typhlosion then."

"Raaeehh..."

"Heh..."

Ash smiled seeing the bond between Pokemon and trainer but smothered that when he took out his next Pokemon. Of course in all honesty his next Pokemon would defiantly finish off Typhlosion... _'Any move would._' Ash thought with a slight sense of sardonic humor.

"Alright Donphan let's go!" The white light revealed the Rollout Pokemon who by the way was also a ground type.

Jed saw where this was clearly going. "Ah crap."

Anabel smirked. "Do I even need to say it? Oh well. BEGIN!"

Ash wasted no time. "Donphan use Earthquake!"

Jed frowned. "Ah double crap." He said when Donphan slammed down on the ground as cracks appeared. The vibrations prevented Typhlosion to jump and dodge the attack. And so like the Torkoal before her, this fire type was predictably knocked out. There was no fuss or hassle about the loss as Jed called his fire type back in. More words of comfort where added but the battle had to come back on as Jed sent out his third Pokemon matching Ash in numbers.

Nuzleaf the unique combination type came out facing against Donphan. A quick 'begin' came from Anabel and Ash came up with an old classic method. "Donphan Defense Curl and Rollout!"

"Don dondondondon!" A small blue glow indicating the defensive move and then rolled in place kicking up dirt and like a car he zoomed head on towards the grass type.

Jed gave the quick order to dodge but then added. "On the walls!" The Duel type wasted no time to jump out of the way of Donphan's attack; easily he grabbed on the smooth wall and out of reach.

But Ash gave no worry or thought to what he did. "Donphan roll on the walls!" It shocked his opponent when the ground type was not hindered by gravity as he chased after Nuzleaf.

_'Their so going to pay for messing up my building's walls!' _Anabel inwardly seethed when she saw the marks that the Pokemon battling where making.

Jed was quick to react. "Nuzleaf see if you can knock him off with Ariel Ace!"

"Nuz nuz leaf!" With brashness it nose dived and winds surrounded it. Donphan was right below him; the ground type had caused a huge trail behind him and was gaining on the grass type fast.

But when Nuzleaf made contact, Ariel Ace only slightly managed to scratch the thick hide of Donphan before the Defense curl powered Roll Out knocked him on the ground. Slight damage was given but the Wily Pokemon landed back on his feat on the field.

Donphan decided to end his make shift Rock Slide and suddenly was going to slam strait on the ground. But Ash decided to even further the damage done to make up for type disadvantage. "Earthquake while your falling!"

The gravity of the fall added to an already powerful move would absolutely desolate but Jed wasn't going to have that happen.

"Nuzleaf Low Sweep just before he makes contact." The grass type charged as fast as his little legs could towards the heavy set Pokemon sliding and... well sweeping underneath Donphan's feet in order to prevent the attack from taking off.

Ash saw this and reacted quickly thanks to his Aura Sight. "Donphan use Roll out instead!" Low Sweep only just managed to nick the ground type but the Roll Out prevented any further harm to be done and it nailed right into Nuzleaf; the grass type was sent strait back into the ground near his trainer's feet.

"C'mon, Nuzleaf don't give up now!" Jed encouraged his Pokemon. Another leap and the Wily Pokemon was back on.

_'This is bad, Nuzleaf has taken more damage than Donphan. Looks like Ash is determined deal out as much damage as he in order to make up type disadvantage. Hmph... Pretty good kid. But not good enough!'_

"Alright Nuzleaf get up close and wait for my call!" Jed gave his next order. Ash watched closely to grass type. No move has been called out yet but that didn't mean that Jed have anything up his sleeve. So a plan form in his head, risky and brash but provided plenty of flexibility in case something went wrong.

"Earthquake again Donphan!" Like before the ground type slammed down.

"Nuzleaf X-Scissor on the ground in front and back and prepare Energy Ball in your hands!"  
The bug type move made some fairly large gashes in the ground; Earthquake came but did little because the ground Nuzleaf stood on was almost disconnected because of the powerful move X-Scissor. Green glowing orbs formed in each hand but still Nuzleaf made no move to attack.

Ash gritted his teeth; he begrudgingly admitted that he didn't think that Jed could nullify Earthquake like that but his plan was still in action, especially when he saw how unstable the ground Nuzleaf was on. A simple command was needed.

"Earthquake again!"

This order confused Jed when he saw the ground shake but it became clear what Ash's intention was when he saw the ground Nuzleaf stood on started to collapse.

"Now Roll Out!"

"Nuzleaf get out of there!" Jed yelled but nothing could be done. Nuzleaf's excellent agility was useless when he couldn't gain a footing. The vibrations where just too powerful for the grass type to even take a step.  
In no time, Donphan had Nuzleaf pinned down beneath him completely immobilized.

Excellent now Ash had them where he wanted them to be. A slight competitive grin dotted his lips before he gave his next command. "Hyper Beam!"

You could practically see Jed's irises dilate hearing the dreaded ultimate attack. His mind quickly went back to the green orbs that Nuzleaf still had in his hands. "NOW! Use rapid fire Energy Ball!"

Even pinned beneath, Nuzleaf was able to shot the grass type move over and over again. But the Hyper Beam Donphan was going to launch. It became clear that Ash's Donphan had a pretty good special defense when it came to most ground types; the Roll Out Pokemon took the super effective moves in stride as the yellow orb just got bigger and brighter with each passing second.

So Nuzleaf just kept on! Even with the lack of mobility, the Wily Pokemon still managed to lay a few more hits before the inevitable. As much damage as he could before he passed out do to Hyper Beam, but to his mind any damage given the the opponent will be enough for the next Pokemon his trainer calls out.

And at point-blank range Hyper Beam completely engulfed the grass type in a blinding light. Both trainer's where completely emotionless when observing the spectacle of power.

And when Hyper Beam ended and Donphan had to recharge, shock crossed everyone's faces when they saw that Nuzleaf was still conscious, albeit barely.

"Nuzleaf..." Jed said at lost for words. Even after all that his Pokemon still held on to that last string of strength. It was touching to the Aura Philosopher how much his Pokemon was trying to do.

"Nuzleaf! You can do it my friend!" Jed encouraged the grass type to get up. He was worried no doubt but the belief in his Pokemon would get them both on. "Your strong I know this! Don't let yourself be defeated like this; I know that you still have strength left in you. Please show me this!"

And then a white light appeared. It didn't come from an attack or a Poke'ball but instead coming from the most fascinating part of a Pokemon's life. Evolution.

Nuzleaf's form morphed in to a larger being, the nose got pointier, hands expanding and the single leaf that was perched on his head became a long and pure white mane of hair.

"Shiftry!" The Wicked Pokemon cried when his evolution was complete. He turned to his trainer and using his now palm leaf hand made a thumbs up to show Jed he was okay. Jed smiled and returned the gesture.

Meanwhile Ash couldn't help but grin hugely at this. It was so awesome to see the spirit and dedication of a trainer and a Pokemon together. This was a type of event that was special only to Trainers and their Pokemon. Not coordinators or breeders could match the raw feelings that came with seeing your Pokemon show off that much strength after so much hardship. It reminded Ash of all the times he himself had on his journey to become a Pokemon master, and it was that feeling that made the goal all more rewarding. Looking at Pikachu, he saw similar emotions of the electric mouse. And this was good.  
Ash had forgotten about this for a while, but thanks to Anabel and all her friends and experiences, never again would he lose sight of them.

"Donphan how are you faring?"

"Don Phan!" The ground type roared with a bit of a strain. Donphan was still recharging and it looks like that those Energy Balls had finally registered their damage. And now with a newly evolved but equally if not more damaged Shiftry this match had reached the same intensity with all the previous ones. With fire still raging and burning akin to the intensity of the sun the two trainers resumed their battle where it left off.

"Defense Curl Roll Out!" Ash ordered seeing Jed with Aura sight who was about to call his next move.

"Nuz- I mean Shiftry! Use Energy Ball to hold him off." The two Pokemon collided but despite of the force of Donphan's usual Roll out, it was held back by the exterior force that the Energy Ball's exerted in Shiftry's hands. Both struggled for dominance to see who was stronger, but it was more than a power of will than strength. Shifty had taken damage from a point-blank Hyper Beam and a Roll out or two and Donphan had suffered from a rapid fire Energy Balls. Clearly as day, the Pokemon where both at their wits end with the next few moves. They were pushing on the attacks so hard that soon enough that one had to give in and let the other win.

But it didn't happen this way.

Both of the attacks imploded encompassing both Pokemon. Both of their trainer's called out their respective names when it happened. But evidently both of the Pokemon where pushed backwards near the humans.

A few moments passed, maybe a second or until someone made a move.

Well... unintentionally of course.

First Shiftry let out a groan before going down on one knee before just leaning over on the side finally having all his strength sapped out.

"Looks like Shiftry can no longer continue Donpha-" Anabel was interrupted when another groan erupted this time from Donphan. The Ground type slumped down on his belly, following the same fate as his opponent.

Ash and Jed had their eyes wide open at the result as this outcome was rare. Anabel however being a Frontier Brain had seen many of these Battles and declared the result unhindered. "Well then, I guess both Pokemon are unable to battle." She said. "Right now the battle is a tie, three out of six Pokemon are both teams are out." She was about to suggest they take a break as usual regulation of a six-on-six battle but all this was forgotten when she saw Ash.

The Pikachu trainer was panting in exhaustion, droplets of sweat dripped down his face; his hands shook for unknown reason. But inwardly, Ash felt exhilarated yet exhausted, it was almost like he felt what his Pokemon was feeling. But in a way it didn't drain his strength when Donphan fainted.

He vaguely noticed when Anabel approached him.

"Ash... are you alright?" She asked him, by all means if the stress of the battle was to much she would declare the match as a stalemate. But apparently she didn't have to worry when he let out a big grin.

"Hey don't worry about me! I feel fine! I just don't know what's going on!"

"Ha so that's it!" Jed exclaimed from the other side clapping his hands together in excitement. "Exhilarating isn't it?"

Ash and Anabel gave him a confused look so he explained further. "Sometimes it takes years for an Aura user to be able to sense what their Pokemon state, know what it's like in the battle... but you Ash, it only took three rounds of the battle for you to figure it out... You're Aura is certainly something.

"So it's like Anabel's ability then?" Ash asked amazed. But Jed shook his head.

"Not at all. You see Miss Anabel's ability allows her to see and sense all aspects of a Pokemon, from their emotions to their very spirit. Aura users are only allowed to sense the physical state of our Pokemon. However it takes a while for it to get into gear I admit. "

"Oh..." Ash looked at Anabel and then to Pikachu expecting answers but the two just shrugged. How would they know what is it like to be an aura user?

"I would cation to using it lightly. Though it is nice to have during a life or death situation or a battle with another Aura User, my people often practice to discipline to NOT use it during normal matches."

Ash nodded, knowing that his Aura powers should just be something to use very sparsely. However, he was all to willing to use them against the Aura Philosopher. "Hey Anabel." He turned to her. "Can we take a break, I need regain my footing. You don't mind do you Jed?"

The elder teen nodded. "Yeah... A break would be good to collect our thoughts."

* * *

So all three teens sat down on the stadium and all the Pokemon who where chatting amongst themselves to how the battle was going. Jed was dusting himself off from when the Torkoal meteor had nearly hit. Ash was trying to rest and regain his thoughts. His blood was racing but from previous experience he knew that he had to calm himself down otherwise the match was as good as lost.

Anabel meanwhile was thinking on all the moves had been pulled off.

What Ash had been doing and presenting to the field was almost a new type of battle. Everything was either a combination or a method of moves that differed from the norm.  
She had to admit that Ash was really redefining the meaning of a Pokemon Battle. And she had to envy that ingenuity that he had when it came to presenting the moves. Everything was unorthodox and flexible, using the most out of every situation that came his way; fitting for Ash's life style.

That a quick look at Ash she smiled. _'Ash your defiantly different from the norm.' _Her smiled turned secretive. _'And now I have a pretty good idea what your going to represent to the Battle Frontier._'

"Pika pika-chu." Pikachu was near his trainer wanting to be picked up. Ash laughed and help Pikachu up to his shoulder.

"Are you ready buddy?" He asked his starter Pokemon. "Looks like we still have a few more tough Pokemon, and it looks like their isn't going to be anyone you have an advantage over. Flygon is out since he is a ground type and electric moves have a hard enough time with dragon type. That leaves Froslass and that... odd colored Spinda."

Pikachu chirped at Spinda. And then imitated it's face somehow making swirls replace his eyes and started teetering oddly like normal Spinda behavior. Ash got the clue that is what Pikachu wanted to battle and though he didn't voice his thoughts out loud, it made our trainer wonder why Pikachu was so interested in battling the odd colored Pokemon.

But it did not matter for Ash had to be on his toes for the next round. So far he and Jed were tied but for that sacrifice he learned a lot about the Aura Philosopher's fighting patterns. Jed had that method where he powered up his Pokemon's moves, and also, his Pokemon also had their state weaknesses covered fairly well. The only good method so far was to out maneuver him. So far it was really a battle of countering and see which one messes up first. There was really no time to think as all of it went to reacting to one another moves. But now that Ash had time to think, it allowed him a better understanding to be able to save more of his Pokemon instead of having them taken out when every a battle started/ended.

The trainer turned his head to Jed who was in deep thought. It was clear to Ash that, Jed was also thinking of ways to win the battle. And if only for the short time Ash knew him, Jed was a very good thinker. The guy was observant and it seemed like he was devoting a lot of thinking time to this match.

It helped when Pikachu gave some words of encouragement to Ash. And any sense of doubt went away.

It also really helped when Anabel came over to check up on him. "How are you doing Ash?" She asked him with a bit of concern in her voice. She quickly looked over him to see if he was strained anywhere. Ash may not be doing anything physically but the stress of a match that is put on a trainers mind can often effect the body.

Ash smiled at her concern. "I'm fine Anabel, just thinking that's all."

"Ash Ketchum thinking? Then we most certainly need to get you to a doctor." She joked. Ash snorted and gave her a light affectionate slug.

"Thanks." He said before they began to laugh; Pikachu hopped in Anabel's lap as she began to pet him. "So what do you think I should do for the next round?"

Anabel seemed to think about it for a while before saying. "Ash... I am the referee. I'm not allowed to give my opinion." Was her blunt reply

Poor Ash forgot about this and sweat dropped. Apparently there was still more things for him to remember.

"Ah well... we should begin soon. Don't want Jed to gain the advantage by thinking to much." The two laughed at the joke before Ash picked up Pikachu and headed to the battle field.

Soon enough the trainers were once again ready for battle.

* * *

"Shall we skip the pleasantries?" Jed joked again tossing a Poke'Ball.

Ash smirked. "Were their any to begin with?"

"Heh... you have some nerve kid. Alright! Flygon! On the stage!"

"The Stage? Then he should have a partner. Go Heracross!" Both white lights touched the ground. The Bug Fighting humanoid blue beetle type Heracross the and the Ground Dragon type Flygon, the dragon of the dessert.

"Hera!"

"Fly-goonn..."

As the Pokemon prepared themselves for an epic confrontation, their trainer's re-lit their Aura sight, Ash's fierce blue and Jed's calming green.

Anabel looked between the two; she saw they were ready and prepared to call the battle while in the back of her head reminding herself to call a gym floor repairman after this was done. "Alright this is the fourth round and both trainer on their forth Pokemon. Begin!"

"Flygon, kick up a storm with your wings!" Jed decided to skip any simple move right away. He wasn't going give Ash a head start on this battle.

But that wasn't going to get to our favorite trainer. "Heracross get back and prepare a Focus Punch!" Already he could feel the adrenaline of his Pokemon spiking his senses.

"Going on the defensive eh Ash? Very well. Flygon Dig and prepare for my next command!"

Amidst the make-shift sand storm Flygon dived into the field leaving only a mound of dirt indicating where Flygon entered but none to where he might be.

Ash's blue eyes scanned the field but nothing came up. Apparently, the dragon type was deep enough under that it prevented his signature from being scanned... or it could be simply the fact that his Aura sight was untrained. Even worse, there was nothing physically on the surface to tell where Mystic Pokemon whereabouts. Jed's Flygon defiantly knew how to stealthy move underground. This made predicting his next move tricky and calling out a counter attack even more so.

"Stay on guard Heracross." He quietly told his Pokemon.

The bug type narrowed his yellow eyes. "Herrrrr..." He clenched his claws and the white glow of Focus Punch shined more.

Unlike Ash, Jed could see perfectly where his Flygon was as he had been training in the art of Aura for over ten years, (also mainly the fact that Flygon was his Pokemon and if it had been Ash the situation would have been opposite). Indeed this made it especially unfair to Ash but if Ash won battle than it would certainly prove Ash's ability as a Pokemon trainer to be far greater than most.

"Ready..." Jed whispered to himself as the 'sand storm' dust was just barely hovering over the ground. As if sensing his trainer, Flygon, deep underground, tensed for the next attack.

"NOW! Dragon Tail!"

Ash panicked. "Heracross step back!" He cried out before the attack commenced. Knowing from experience, Ash expected the attack to originate from underneath.

But when the rumbling of Dig appeared, obviously Flygon came from the side of Heracross instead of the usual result.

Dragon Tail appeared as a shimmering mixture of blue and orange glow on Flygon's tail and when attacked it nailed the Single Horn Pokemon right in the head. The impact made Heracross fly across the room before crashing into the dirt. "Herr...cross..." He panted while trying to get up.

"Alright Heracross you can do it!" Ash encouraged his Pokemon. "Get up close on him!"

'U_h oh.'_ There was something in Ash's voice that told Jed that this battle was going to get into it's fiery state. Ash was going to put on the hurt. "Flygon... fly up!" The Dragon types triangular wings started to flap when Heracross came dashing in, but managed to get high enough before the bug type could get close.

Honestly, could height ever stop Ash Ketchum though?

"JUMP!" Using his powerful legs and extending his translucent wings, Heracross very quickly latched on to Flygon. Though certainly the dragon type wasn't sap, it sure seemed like it by the way Heracross was clinging on to him for it.

"Hyper Beam!" Ash gave out his next order.

"Oh gosh not again!" Jed moaned before saying. "U-Turn on the ground Flygon to get him off!"

Blue shimmers surrounded Flygon and then took off with lightning speed. Heracross stood on almost having Hyper Beam ready in his mouth though the process was disrupted a little when Flygon started to speed on the ground where the Bug type received a painful experience being bombarded with hard rock. Though damage was taken, Ash's Pokemon were stubborn like their trainer and that was something Jed didn't expect.

Another Hyper Beam was launched when Heracross leaped above Flygon and let it lose causing the Mystic Pokemon make a small crater in ground.  
Remarkably, Flygon was able to get up after that but coast the turn where Heracross had to recharge, but once again the stakes were even in damage taken.

"Dragon Breath!"

"Mega Horn!"

Both trainers ordered at the same time. Dragon Breath came out as a stream of purple, yellow and green but the sheer physical power of Mega Horn that was lite up on Heracross some how manged to deflect the damage with it. But the closer he got, it became clear that it slowly harder for Heracross to get nearer.

"Alright my friend put more power into the attack, you've almost got him down!" Jed said watching the struggle between the two.

"C'mon buddy!" Ash edged his Pokemon on. "Show him your power!" Remarkably the two Pokemon just came at it and when the attacks where 'face-to-face' and collision explosion occurred sending the Poke'mon sliding back to opposite ends. It was on!

"Get up close!" The two trainers called at the same time. The Pokemon zoomed up close dishing out damage like no one's business. Ash called out a rapid Horn Attack combined with a Focus Punch here and there to delay Flygon from using the actual move Fly. But Jed got it off in time and this turn, Heracross was able to take a joy ride. Instead, using the accent of Fly and the speed, Jed had it combined with Dragon Tail to make it even more powerful.

But Ash had Focus Punch to empower Heracross to at least hold it off and somewhat nullify the damage. But as the Bug type held on, Jed had Flygon to twist his long neck and ordered Dragon Breath directly in front. Though Dragon Breath did hit of, it proved a bit lethal when Heracross still stayed on having Ash order a Mega Horn that smacked Flygon clear across the field. Jed stared worriedly at the condition of his Pokemon.

_'Arrr... This is bad. Ash has certainly learned to counter my attacks; Flygon probably only has a few more hits left in him before he get's knocked out. Not only that but I can't use Dragon Breath anymore in case of Heracross getting paralyzed. I mean... if he has the Guts ability than I'm toast.'_

Jed looked up and around, covering the battle field with his gaze; he could feel the rasping breath of Flygon within him telling the invisible clock to how many minutes where left in this round.

Seeing Jed's worried face would have made Ash smirk, but he didn't. This was defiantly not the time to get cocky in a battle. Experience told him that this time, the tides have easily switched back and forth on a whim and those who least suspected that change where the ones who suffered from it most.

Right now Ash could tell that Jed was planning to be defensive, waiting for his opponent to make the first move and see from there to attack. Ash gritted his teeth often disliking the position of the provoker but he was the one who was being challenged here.  
However there was one advantage here. Out of all of Jed's Pokemon, Flygon was considerably the weakest as evident by the lack of defense and special defense which they were known for. Heracross still had much more experience to go by and that is why (for not only being attacked less) was still faring well.

_'Alright Jed you've provoked me.'_

"Heracross Mega Horn followed by Focus Punch!"

Jed was about to counter. "Flygon!..." He paused. "Wait..." His Pokemon looked a little bit unsure seeing the bug type coming in to attack but the Pokemon trusted his trainer, so maybe there was an alternative to this risky tactic.

Jed could see and feel his Pokemon tensing up so in a way timing was pivotal in this. Aura sight helped greatly, but Heracross's speed was something to be marveled at.

Approximately there was two seconds left until Heracross's Mega Horn was going to make contact when Jed made his move.

"U-turn!"

In speeding light, Flygon went streaming backwards before Heracross could hit, causing the Large Horn Pokemon to stumble forward and not being able to do anything when U-turn made it's second move when it charged right into the bug type.

"Now use Dig!" Flygon burrowed underground. Jed was hoping to use with rapid barrage of attacks to take Heracross off guard. But now that Ash had seen that Flygon can use dig he was prepared for it.

"Use that Focus Punch on the ground!"

Rapidly Heracross pounded on the floor making shake and even have rocks jutting up in random places. Jed watched in defeat when he saw one of these jagged pillars forced Flygon to the surface and air and then crashing back down fainted and defeated.

"Flygon is no longer able to Battle." Anabel said after the silence. "Winner of this round is Ash and Heracross."

"Heraaa!" The bug type cheered for his victory while Jed had Flygon return to the Poke'ball.

"Heh... nice go out there friend... Next time, we will win." Was his word's of encouragement. Now Jed had two Pokemon and Ash had three. Of course the next Pokemon he wanted to send out would defiantly have a type disadvantage, however... he wanted to save Spinda for that Pikachu. So grabbing another Poke'Ball from his belt he called on one of his oldest and most powerful of them.

"Froslass! Your turn to shine!" Out of the white light came the Snow Land Pokemon.

"Lass..." She gave a harmonious sound; the ice type looked very majestic now but that ended when she shot the Aura Philosopher a sharp glare. Taken aback Jed sweat dropped a bit while rubbing the back of the head. "Still mad at me eh?"

"Am I missing anything?" Ash asked a bit confused by the Pokemon's behavior.

Clearing his throat Jed explained. "Yeah... well... I didn't exactly introduced her properly to you guys, she's got kinda annoyed at that. So... Ash, allow me to introduce you to the powerhouse of my team, Froslass." He paused before smirking quite mischievously. "And I can assure you that this round is as good as mine."

Ash met the smirk with a cocky grin of his own. "We'll see about that." He said just before Anabel gave the signal to start the match.

"Heracross, give a Mega Horn !"

"Heraaaaa..." The bug type came charging forward again.

Jed's smirk widen even further. "Getting too confident here! Froslass! Hop up!... NOW!"

Swiftly as if floating than putting forth any effort, Froslass dodged Heracross's Horn Attack once again causing the Large Horn Pokemon to stumble.

And in this fatal move Jed ordered a Shadow Ball and further blasted Heracross across the field even landing in the Torkoal crater.

But Heracross still held on though now considerably more weakened thanks to Shadow Ball.

Ash was faced with a conundrum, though Froslass should have been weak to fighting types, the ghost type had nullify most of Heracross's attacks; two being normal type and one being fighting. This left Ash with very little room for flexibility and limited his usual methods. All that was left was Mega Horn... that was not very effective.

But that wouldn't mean much to Ash, no matter what the battle, the score, advantages or strengths, he would battle to the best of his ability.

"Heracross! Try to keep a distance until I can work something out alright!" It was the only way he could stall for time until he was able to gauge Froslass's strengths. He could feel Heracross's strength draining slowly.

"Sorry Ash that's not about to happen." Jed said with his Aura sight flaring indicating his next move. "Froslass!... Double Thunder."

"Dodge!" Ash called out not knowing what to expect.

But with the swiftness that was the Snow Land Pokemon, One Thunder struck right in front of Heracross, just barely and suspiciously missed. But when Heracross jumped back in surprised and reflex, and another Thunder struck and it was a direct hit.

Heracross slumped down obviously out of the battle and left Jed and Ash tie for how many Pokemon where left. So recalling his recently fainted Pokemon and giving a compliment. Ash decide which Pokemon to call next... though Gible would have a few effective moves against the Ice type... however it was the fact that Ash could remember her having two Ice type moves and that can be very hazardous to a Dragon and Ground type.

He turned to Pikachu. "Guess you have to go in early Pikachu." The electric mouse Pokemon ears dropped and was about to hop in the battle.

But then...

Imagine the Poke'Ball release noise going off with out eye contact on who the Pokemon appeared. Though it is obvious to who it was.

"Gi gible."

Ash's eyes where wide open. "Ah no! Gible!" He wanted to scold the dragon type while he was reach for his Poke'Ball but then stopped. _'Wait..no.. aww... substitutions.'_ And going by the official rules, he couldn't call back Gible which meant he had to be at the disadvantage here. Our hero scowled noticing Anabel trying to giggle and Jed who was looking the other way obviously laughing at this.

"Can we just begin the battle?" He growled annoyed by the unprofessional behavior.

Anabel laughed a bit more. "Sure thing Ash... Alright now. It's now Froslass against Gible. Let's just-" She chuckled. "Let's just get on with it."

Jed quirked an eyebrow. "So much for a official battle."

"Gible Rock Smash infused with Dragon Pulse!" Ash instantly went into battle. It was easy for him to be able to feel Gible's excitement and hot blood roared in his ears. The Land Shark Pokemon had Rocks Surrounded his little claws and from his mouth streamed a blue rippling stream of power that somehow was imbued in his fist.

_'Little punk is using a his own version of a different Froslass Ice Beam punch.'_

"Froslass spin while using Shadow Ball!" Jed gave the order and Froslass reacted instantly. Having the uncanny ability to float made it easy for the ice type to become a small whirlwind that let out small dark orbs of energy that crashed and exploded when making contact to the ground. But luckily, Gible was a small Pokemon and was able to out maneuver most of them. When near Froslass, a stray Shadow Ball caught the end of Gible's foot causing him to go flying at the Snow Land Pokemon (**A/N: Snow Land, Land Shark... Pokemon... completely unintentional)**. The Method Dragon Rock Smash did not go away however. Jed could see that and had Froslass to use Ice Punch to slightly deflect it. Both attack did manage to do damage.

_'Gible got hit but not much; well that was only a small hit, not even direct..'_ Ash thought with a bit of worry. Rock Smash he had to admit was a fairly weak move but had the advantage of being super effective. This left a few options of tactics, he could try hard hitting attacks but at a long range because Gible was pretty frail when it came to ice attacks... almost like a cannon make of glass.

But there was the advantage of taking Jed by surprise with Draco Meteor; still risky but there are ways to make it work.

"Gible use Dig but stay underground!" Ash had his Pokemon dive deep beneath the field where there strain his invisible ears to here his master's next order.

Jed looked quickly around the field like Ash had done previously for where that Pokemon might be, but alas he was blind in Aura sight due to the ground... but... there was a possibility...

You could almost see a light bulb light up above him.

"Listen up girl!" He called out to Froslass. "See if you can do what Gible did and infuse your Shadow Ball with Ice Beam alright?"

The Snow Land Pokemon wanted to shot her trainer a concerned look. In all her years of being with him, this was certainly a weird move to call out. And this was Jed where taking about here. She did as she was told though seeing that usually it was her trainer who had excellent ideas.

So soon in the palm of her tiny white hand was an orb of shining icy darkness.

Ash narrowed his eyes looking at it. They widened when Jed told Froslass to throw that odd attack into the hole where Gible had just gone too.

Acting fast our Hero leaped into his next movement in his plan. "Gible! Jump out the hole and Dragon Pulse!."

Jed had to admit Gible was a fast little devil. Seeing how he was able to blast Froslass with the dragon type move. Not that it changed anything. Though hit, Froslass didn't look like she had any problem with the attack in fact she looked more annoyed at herself for not dodging it.  
Not only that but when Gible landed next to the hole he came out, a small icy black orb floated out and headed strait towards Gible.

One must remember that Shadow Ball has a one hundred percent accuracy... though it was slowed down considerably due to the ice that covered it.

Gible saw the attack and didn't really know what to do. When it got nearer he stepped back and was worried when it didn't stop, taking another step back and another until Gible was absolutely terrified of it and started to run around on the field in panic.

Sighing at his Pokemon's antics he was grateful that Jed and Froslass where a bit too amused to remember to take this as an advantage to attack.

"Gible enough!" Ash's voice became stern. "Shoot that thing away with a Dragon Pulse."

Comically enough Gible did stop almost instantly; turning he unleashed from his mouth Dragon Pulse and collided with the floating ball of icy doom. Dust and smoke erupted indicating that the attack had been disrupted. Ash cheered inwardly glad that nuisance was away but he looked at Jed he didn't see any look of nervousness.

In fact it almost seemed like the older teen was giving him a very questioning look. Lips thin and a white eyebrow arched way up. Slowly he shook his head in disbelief.

Our hero was smart enough to know that this meant something was wrong. Jed was still up to something and he didn't know what.

"Ah!" He said when he saw that the Ice Shadow Ball was still coming towards Gible. Apparently Gible's Dragon Pulse was not strong enough to cancel out the attack. But there was still hope that he could still try to dodge it.

"Gible get near Froslass and use Counter Shield Dragon Pulse."

Though it seemed impossible, the Land Shark Pokemon was able to execute Counter Shield perfectly and in no time at all, the blue pulsating streams of the dragon type move were covering the field. It helped that it kept hitting the Ice Shadow Ball away from Gible though it didn't destroy it.

"Froslass... Please dodge."

"Froslass." As the ghost she was, Froslass was able to weave in and out the streams like a basket maker. Elegantly, flowing over them.

"From an Ice Beam Punch!" Jed added when she was just hovering over the sides nowhere near the middle; he could see her wince using the risky technique that offend sacrificed health for power. The Ice type knew of her Trainer's intentions and as fast as she could attack at hand.

Ash told Gible to dodge, but it was hard for the dragon type to slow the momentum gained from Counter Shield that the attack hit while he was still trying to get up. Panting Gible tried to stand back up only to come face on the Ice Shadow ball that kept up in relentless pursuit.

It hit hard and powerful sending Gible high in the air and send landed on the ground with absolutely zero quietness.

And every time Gible was hit, Ash could feel the breath getting knocked out of him. His senses where fading meaning that Gible was only a few blinks away from fainting. Two super charged Ice attacks; he could see black in his own eyes.

"Gible!" He called out to his friend, still the latest edition to his whole entire Pokemon Team... Has trust really been built enough already or was there still something lacking?

Ash was going to find out now about it. "Stand strong Gible, I need you in there. I know this is rough but remember how well you did in the Lilly of the Valley Tournament? I need that same strength buddy." He started to smile when Gible started to get up. He could tell it was tough for the little dragon's limbs to handle this tall task. The Dragon type started to weaken again as he got lower though.

"Let's show them what we got Gible!" Ash encouraged his Pokemon as his voice rose. "C'mon buddy, you can do this!"

In his tiny dragon mind, Gible was trying to understand what this meant. Normally a slow thinker, Gible had a harder time understanding human sentences rather than attack commands than other Pokemon. So, really, to him it was kinda a jumble of nonsense.

But there were things that did stand out.

The warmth of his trainer's voice that told of caring.

Believing in his strength which told of confidence Ash had in little Gible

And the word buddy... which he still didn't know the meaning exactly but he had heard used on Pikachu... who his trainer was very close with... did that mean that the big human dragon Ash had that same kinship with him.

Despite of being a slow thinker the answer came very quickly.

Yes it did.

He could something rising in his depths.  
It wasn't hunger for it didn't want anything, and it wasn't pain because it was too nice to be it. It was strength, and by instinct Gible knew what to do.

He tiny legs stood up strong; his body beaten and scratched but a determine look shown in his reptilian eyes; it mimicked the raw determination and power of Ash's.

"Gi Gible?" The Land Shark seemed to ask Ash something. And some how all the humans in the room knew what was head.

"Will you stand by me?"

Ash smiled while his eye lids lowered, giving him a very gentle expression... one normally used by a farther looking his family.

"Of course I will."

He saw Pikachu also give a nod. "Pikachu."

Gible's happily closed his eyes. "Gi-ble!"

And the white white of evolution appeared once more. Out of it came Cave Pokemon- Gabite.

"Garr!-... gar gar?" The former Gible looked in surprise at this new form turning around observing his new tail which he seem to particularly like.

"Ha.. Wow... Gabite." Ash said from the side. He looked down at Pikachu who looked just as excited as well. The two gave each other a high five; Pikachu jumping up to his trainers height.

"WOO-WHOOOO!" Jed excitement was clear. "This is awesome! Two evolutions in the same battle! Aw Man I am so pumped!" The Aura Philosopher jumped in the air he was so awed by Ash's newly evolved Gabite.

Anabel on the side gave a wink and a thumbs up to Ash, in returned he blushed beat red while looking a bit sheepish.

"He he..."

But why should this new found excitement go to waste? It was back to the battle with blood pumping and hearts roaring with a fire that wasn't quenched.

You could feel the hot burning fire of Ash and the cool flame of Jed it was back on.

Froslass taking only minor damage and Gabite having been dealt heavy blows makes it difficult for Ash to regain a footing, but hopefully the power boost that Gabite's evolution will make up for it.

"Let's go!" Both trainer's said with Aura flaring in their eyes.

"Froslass Shadow Ball in one hand and have the other use Ice Punch!" Jed said throwing up a fist.

"Gabite charge up a Dragon Pulse but don't let it out yet." Ash said his voice brimming with confidence.

The two Pokemon about to attack one waiting the other not so much, but which one will make it out towards the end?

Tune in next...

Nevermind, Let's just finish the battle.

"Now Draco Meteor!" Ash let out the next part of his strategy.

On the split decision Jed told his Pokemon to halt the attack when Gabite launched from his mouth Draco Meteor powered up by Dragon Pulse. And when it reached the top of the ceiling, it was a matter of chance for Froslass to dodge.

The red orbs hurled down on the field aiming all towards Froslass. Her tricky maneuvering and superb speed had bought some time but it was only a matter of time before she was hit.

One Draco Meteor came awfully close causing a shockwave that took Froslass off her rhythm.

And one Meteor just happened to be heading where she stopped.

Jed knew there wouldn't be time to move so he ordered the next best thing he could. "Ice Punch the Meteor!"

Now considering the power differences between the two moves, one may be thinking that this move was foolhardy but consider the types of moves they were using. Draco Meteor, a Dragon type move and Ice Punch, an Ice type move. If one was to believe attacks can also be super effective on another attack, than wouldn't that make up for power difference.

Whether or not this theory was correct, as Froslass punched the meteor with a frost coasted hand, an explosion engulfed her. Soon enough, she was flying out of the smoke and on the field, but still very much conscious though badly beaten up it seemed like. But this did not worry our Aura Philosopher though he could feel her breath thinning; Most froslass are known for low Health so...

"Gabite now use Dig!" The dragon type burrowed beneath the field however Ash felt this was a wrong move when Jed smirked.

"Ah... Froslass... Follow him." Everyone's eyes widen; in all their battles, as any one really followed a Pokemon through Dig?

But Snow Land Pokemon obeyed, diving in the hole after Gabite. Now using Aura Sight both trainer's could see their respective Pokemon. And when Froslass stopped and Gabite turned around in side the ground, both trainer's knew they were facing their opponent.

In such a confined space, the next move had to be fast and accurate. No time to screw around, either someone was hit or one of them was going to be toast.

"Ice Punch!"

"Rock Smash!"

It was like an explosion had gone off underground... well, it was exactly like it. The field ripped open in the center as both Pokemon came flying out fainted before they even hit the ground. Worried for their Pokemon's safety, both trainers rushed the battle field, avoiding the all the damage to reach them.

Being bigger now, Ash could hold up Gabite's neck while cradling his head. Though no longer able to battle, the Cave Pokemon still was able to look up at his trainer.

"...ga...ga-bite?" The dragon type asked his trainer. It seemed like he wanted to know of he did well.

Ash laughed a bit seeing his Pokemon was okay. "Yeah... you were awesome out there."

"Piiikaa." Pikachu agreed adding a paw of comfort to Gabite.

Ash took out his Poke'Ball. "Great Job Gabite, I'm very proud of you. Now get some rest." He said calling his loyal Pokemon back in.

During this Jed also attended to Froslass.

Being much smaller, he was able to pick her up, though the frigid frost that was always was exerted from her hurt his fingers, Jed held her close.

Like Gabite, she to was able to speak to her trainer.

"Pretty weird fight wasn't it?" Jed joked a bit to cheer her up.

Froslass huffed a bit, not at him but for her lost. "Ah... don't be like that Fros... You did good, besides that's one small lose compared to all your wins right? Besides, losing this shall just makes us stronger right?"

The Ice type smiled softly and allowed herself to be called back into her Poke'Ball.

Anabel came in the center of the field looking at both trainers. "Is everyone alright?" Of course she already knew the answer by their display of affection for their Pokemon.

She smiled when the two trainers nodded. "That's sweet... except... we have a problem..."

Both trainer's looked confused.

"What is it Anabel?" Ash asked; was it just him or was it starting to get cold in here and... oh no.

"Well..." She started off sweet but soon glared at the both of them. "It's just that my _private_ battle field is now DESTROYED!" She yelled throwing her arms up gesturing at it. Now looking around the... everything was indeed destroyed. There was Torkal's huge crater, tracks on the walls where Donphan chased Nuzleaf, random holes where they both used dig. Dust everywhere because of Flygon's make-shift sand storm. The ceiling was wet because of Totodile's Counter Shield. Jagged pilliars where Heracross punched the ground and let's not forget the ice patches and small creators thanks to the recent battle and a giant hole in the middle to the last attack. Heck some places where on fire for no reason. Or wait... that was probably because of Typhlosion.

"Oooooooo..." The two boys sweat dropped big time noticing the havoc the had reaped. They looked down at their feet ashamed and not wanting to face Anabel's seething face.

"Uh... so I guess we can't use this field anymore." Ash said sheepishly.

"No duh." Was Anabel's uncharacteristic reply. For such a soft hearted person, the Salon Maiden can be very sarcastic at time. "We can continue the battle but you guys are going to help the repair men clean this place up when they get here. Got that?"

"B-b-but Anabel?" Ash cried at the injustice.

A sharp glare shut him up. It told him he was required to do it since it was her property he destroyed. Ah the burden of being in a relationship.

Jed turned to Anabel who was looking expectantly at him. "What?" He asked.

"I didn't hear you agree Stone." She said as her eyes narrowed.

"I'm afraid you can't force me."

A chill ran down his spine when her glare turned mischievous. "Oh really... July 12th Jed."

Jed's skin turned as pale as his hair when he heard that. "You wouldn't!" He accused her.

"Oh I would, dear friend."

Jed came face-to-face with Anabel so see if she was lying. Green eyes glaring against sharp purple.

When he looked away his face was very red. "Fine!" He huffed crossing his arms.

"Good boy."

She gave a look at her VIP battle field with one thought in mind. _'Well... at lest the lights haven't been touched.'_ She though at the irony.

* * *

They headed down on the elevator to a more simpler and less expensive battle field for their last battle. Pikachu was chattering excitingly to Anabel, about his next match. Probably telling her on what he expect of it.  
The two boys however stood a respectful distance away from the Salon Maiden as they could tell that one mistake and dear Anabel would take out that Black glove whether to battle or to just smack them with it. Probably both as she was never one to do things half way.

The elevator dinged and out came a simple battle field with simple accommodations and no huge window. Just artificial lighting.

"You're going to be using Pikachu huh?" Jed asked when they departed.

"Yep. You're using Spinda?"

"Most certainly."

"Are you to ready?" Anabel asked. Though her voice was now gentle, the two still couldn't help up snap to attention.

Ash turned to Pikachu, giving a thumbs up. Pikachu smiled and ran on the field.

Jed in turn looked at his last Poke'Ball before letting the Pokemon inside lose. "You got a lot to show now... let's have fun k?"

He threw it and no introductions were needed.

It was the blue and silver Spinda who looked quiet confused to why he was there. But then, seeing Pikachu he then remembered that there was a battle today. Giving himself a small smack to the head, the Spinda laughed at his own behavior.

"Oi Spinda." Jed softly called his Pokemon's attention.

Ash chuckled. "Is he your starter?" He asked out of the blue.

Jed looked surprised. "Yeah... how did ya know?"

Ash shrugged. "By the way you two act. Reminds me of Pikachu and I."

Jed smiled.

"Begin!"

Pikachu Quick Attack!" With the speed he was known for, Pikachu took off with out haste.

"Spinda Dodge!" As it turns out, Spinda was also fast. And despite of his species being known for being off balance. This one managed to retain his balance quiet nicely. Well... a few seconds after he landed, the spinda tripped.

Jed didn't seem bother tough. "Come on Ash. You can do better than that!" He taunted the young trainer.

Ash grinned showing a feral expression. "So excited on being defeated? Okay. Volt Tail Pikachu!"

This Pikachu charged while his entire being was surrounded by lightning. Pikachu jumped and activated Iron Tail. But instead of smashing the Spot Panda Pokemon down, oddly enough Spinda was sent sideways; damage was still taken though... the result just weird.

Emerging from the dust, Spinda looked relatively unharmed except for a large bump on his head.

"You okay little guy?" Jed asked while Spinda dusted himself off.

"Spiii-Spi-da!"

Jed turned to Ash. "Your methods never cease to amaze me. I have to admit Ash your good. But are you good enough for the unexpected?"

Ash narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't refuse asking what the Aura Philosopher meant.

"Than I'll show you... Spinda Aura Sphere!"

"What?"

"What?"

Both Ash and Anabel did not know that Spinda could learn that move. The Normal type's blue spots glowed until bright and Aura Sphere was launched from his paw.

"Pikachu dodge!" Ash ordered not remembering a special ability of Aura Sphere.

No matter where Pikachu went the Aura Sphere was locked on to Pikachu's signature. Eventually it caught up with the speedy electric type.

"Pikaa!" He cried when it hit him. Quickly as he fell, Pikachu just got right back up.

"Pi Pikaaaa!" He cried having his cheeks spark to intimidate.

Ash looked on to Jed and Spinda.

"How..."

"Does my Spinda know Aura Sphere? I will tell you... Merry Isle is home to very few Pokemon, but those that do live there... all have developed Aura Powers. No one knows why or how. Like every other ten year old who has to pick a starter Pokemon for their journey, so to do we. But we are not limited to the few three, it is the one who we must befriend will become our starter as they will all know the ability Aura Sphere." He paused letting the information register.

Like you said Ash... Spinda's my starter; we've been through a lot. Show me the bond between Pikachu and you, like I have with Spinda. "

Like the Frontier Brain's every battle with Jed was different. It constantly required Ash to be on his toes. His Pokemon varied very widely and they seem to be able to have at least one weakness covered. For example, Volt Tail should have caused much damage to any Pokemon, but Spinda walked away easily from it. Ash had the suspicion that Spinda either had very good special and regular defense or high health.

As with all trainer's, the starter Pokemon held a special place in their hearts. So with Aura helping their connection with Pokemon. Ash could easily feel Pikachu's paws running across the battle field as if they were his own.

Jed felt the off balance yet, always in-balance ways of Spinda as the Normal type dodged continuously with out slack.

Ash had ordered Pikachu to do a Quick Attack followed by an Iron Tail. Though as fast as he was, Spinda was a mess to hit.

At odd ends and random angles, the Spot Panda Pokemon always managed to just dodge each and every attack thrown at him. It made both Ash and Pikachu frustrated that they were easily out maneuvered by such a... well... a odd Pokemon.

It was also more dangerous when Jed attacked with Spinda. Pikachu was nearly hit directly, when he zoomed past Spinda only to have the normal type to send out a Psybeam near range.  
Ash thought long and hard. _'Spinda... he can dodge attacks easily and launch them with out any indication... In order to defeat a foe like that... I also have to be unpredictable..."_

His Aura Sight scanned the area quickly trying to observe Spinda's pattern.

He told Pikachu to halt the Quick Attacks but instead have Iron Tail at ready in case Spinda was going to attack.

Something then clicked in Ash's mind... an old memory. He didn't know what triggered it, but it will sure come useful now.

"Pikachu... remember the Raichu Battle we had in Sinnoh?" He asked his Pokemon. Pikachu's ears perked up; he didn't turn his eyes away from Spinda but nodded to where Ash could see him. "I want you to do that method we had to dodging those moves... when I give the go alright?"

"Piiikaaaaa..." The Electric Mouse said with glee as sparks came from his cheeks.

Jed looked from afar to what his foe was saying. He was talking so quietly to his Pokemon that nothing could be made out. _'What are you doing Ketchum...What are you planning to get out of this problem?'_

"Pikachu Quick Attack!"

Jed smirked seeing Pikachu coming straight for Spinda. "Really Ash... Spinda Dodge and use Psybeam."

Ash saw Spinda was about to turn away when he made his next move. "Pikachu Spin around!"

Ducking within himself, Pikachu's small body turned into a whizzing ball that spin around Spinda. Too fast to even attack with Psybeam.

"Now Iron Tail!" In a blaze of swift motions, the harden tail came on Spinda's head with a loud '_Clange ' _noise. Comically, Spinda clutched his head in pain feeling another welt come up. He teetered away moaning in pain through gritted teeth.

"Oi... that's going to leave a mark tomorrow." Jed said he himself feeling the same pain Spinda did.

Ash ordered another quick attack to take Spinda off guard, but Jed wasn't going to have that happen so easily.

"Spinda Mimic please." Spinda and Pikachu glowed briefly and Spinda was off like a... well, like a Pikachu. With Quick Attack now in the Normal type's arsenal, Pikachu had even more difficulty to keeping up.

"Thunder Bolt!" Electricity only managed to nick Spinda which cause his current velocity to come to a crashing end. Against better judgment, Pikachu stood near where Spinda crashed and another thunder bolt when Ash told him to.

Jed wasn't going to have that happen. "Teeter Dance."

Hoping out and landing right in front of Pikachu took the electric type off guard. Then Spinda began to dance, making odd motions, impossible poses and just downright confusing moves. But Pikachu couldn't tear his eyes away not even hearing Ash yelling something about don't look at Spinda. Soon enough, Pikachu became very dizzy and a glazed look.

Ash groaned very loudly seeing what just happened. Having your Pokemon confused has always been a major pain in the neck.

Spinda watched amused when Pikachu wobbled away, completely unaware of the battle that was going on just seconds ago.

But Pikachu was now in his own little world right now, no matter how many times Spinda kept poking him.

"Spinda, knock it off." Jed scolded his starter. "Please use Aura Sphere."

"Spii spi da."

Standing right in front of Pikachu. Spinda placed his tiny paws in front of Pikachu's face with blue aura growing.

"Pikachu dodge!" Ash said hoping that some sense would come through the confused Pokemon. Instead something much more comical happened.

Just right when Spinda was about to unleash Aura Sphere, Pikachu sneezed and out came a Thunder Bolt that sent Spinda flying strait into his trainer's face and Pikachu getting a Aura Sphere in the face.

Pikachu was sent hurling on the ground, getting up and shaking his head, now his eyes clear and sharp to what just happened now no longer being confused.

"Piakaka!" He said with great intensity. Ash gave a huge sigh of relief glad that Pikachu didn't damage himself. Of course it would've been more if that Aura Sphere didn't hit... Pikachu now had probably more than half his health left.

"Alright Pikachu let's give them... wait where's Spinda?... In matter of fact... where's Jed?" He asked Anabel.

She in turn Pointed to the black lump on the other side of the field. Spinda indeed crashed into Jed and sent them both on the ground. Jed only just realized a few moments later what just happened to him. Hearing his name, the Aura Philosopher sat up ready to do battle but there was a problem.

"Spinda... I know you love me... and I appreciate it greatly, but we really can't win the battle when Your CLINGING ON MY FACE!" Jed yelled feeling and seeing his Starter Pokemon clutching on his face.

The Spot Panda Pokemon sweat dropped, hopping off to return to the field.

"Ya done?" Ash asked with great humor in his voice.

Jed scowled. "Ha ha.. Spinda... use Quick attack."

"Pikachu Quick Attack also."

Both Pokemon close in on each other; from there it got tricky. Ash had Pikachu use Iron Tail, but Jed instead had Spinda deflect it with Aura Sphere in his paws. It became almost like a sword fight with these two Pokemon clanging and countering away the attacks that came at them. Then the trainer's had the two Pokemon jump around the battle field using quick attack launching long range attacks such as Psybeam and Thunder Bolt.

This was fine until Ash decided to pull his own move with Pikachu using that spin method high in the air with Thunder Bolt. This managed to hit Spinda a few times, weakening the normally upbeat Pokemon a few notches.

"Were not going down that easily right Spinda?" Jed exclaimed pulling back a fist. Spinda mimicked this action also feeling his trainer's confidence in him.

"Spinda Aura Sphere!"

"Heh... thought you were going to use that move! Pikachu Iron tail to hit it back at him." Ash told his buddy. As he predicted the bright blue ball of Aura was flung back at Spinda now locked on him.

Jed didn't even flinch. "Use Psybeam to knock it back on course!" A rainbow colored beam was indeed able to cause Aura Sphere to go back at Pikachu, but now it also accompany by a stream of multiple colors. Like a comet in the sky, it was fast and beautiful. But now was not the time to awe in it's beauty.

"Kaaa-Chu Pika!" Pikachu hit hard with Iron Tail, it bounced back at Spinda who again used Psybeam to make it go back to Pikachu.

Ash and Jed stood looking at the seen with Aura Sight going over all the details with the same thoughts in mind. _'Nothing is getting down playing this game. 'The more moves I let my opponent have the more he gets the advantage over me. I need to end it soon before the tides turn in his favor.'_  
Thinking this they failed to notice that the dangerous game of Ping-pong comet ball was going to end up in disaster. The two Pokemon were closer than ever before, with the Aura comet still going between them. But they just got nearer and nearer unaware of the impending attack that was going to happen. The human's would have done something but they were amazed how this 'game' kept up that they failed to warn their Poke'mon until it was too late.

"Pikaaa!"

"Spiiinnnn!"

A blast came out of now where causing both of the Pokemon to be very damaged and sent hurtling backwards.

"Spii...spi.."

"Pi...ka..." Both Pokemon and trainer's were breathing hard. They felt faintness coming close . The next move had to be the last or else neither Pokemon would have the strength to go on.

"Got... got to hand it to you... Ash." Jed said between pants. With all his Pokemon exhausted there was no one's strength to go on. "You lasted... longer than I... expected.

Ash too was panting but grinned. "Yeah? Thanks... I... I often have habit of doing that... right Pikachu?"

Pikachu now in worse condition, still let out a cheerful "Pi Pika!" Agreeing that it was indeed their duty to pass the limit of the world.

Jed smile. "How bout we end this soon okay?"

Ash knew what the elder teen was saying and agreed. "Fine than but be prepared. Pikachu ready?"

"Spinda can you go for one more round?"

Feeling their trainer's confidence within themselves gave them the power boost they needed to last in battle.

"PiiiiIIIII-" Electricity started to surrounded Pikachu in violent motions. "KAAACHUUUUU!" He said indicating what power he had left.

Spinda too had something to give, no where near as dramatic as Pikachu's own lightning storm but bright blue Aura surrounded him, giving of the appearance of a mystical fire. "Spindaaa!" He said cheerily.

"Now Pikachu!"

"Now Spinda!"

"Use Volt Tail!"

"Spinda Mimic Volt Tackle but use Aura Sphere!"

Two huge crackling storms were in the area. One focused on Pikachu's tail that shone a bright metallic sheen as Iron tail was charged from it. Spinda's Volt tackle was more focused on the Blue Aura Sphere which was expanding it's aura through out the storm. Both Pokemon where charging at each other and when the attack collided it was a battle of will to see who would give in.

Pikachu and Spinda glared at each other. Iron Tail was pushing against Aura Sphere like a sword against a shield.

But like all attacks, this couldn't last forever.

No one knew which move gave in but soon enough, the who deal imploded sending a blinding light. Everyone shielded their eyes with their arms until it died down. In the center of the battle field was Spinda and Pikachu, both laying down.

But wait!

There was still the ability to stand up in both of them. Yes the battle was still not over... but it could only be ended to which one will give out first.

"Pikachu!" Ash's voice tried to reach his partner's ears.

"Spinda!" Jed looked at his beloved starter in worry.

"Buddy..." Ash said. "Stand up please. We've been in situations like this before and you've always managed to get back up. You can do it Pikachu... I know you can."

"Spinda..." Now it was Jed's turn. "You little rascal... You've fought hard today but for one more time... show that burning strength that exist within you. I've seen it before my dear friend."

It is love that makes someone get back up after being hurt and a Pokemon with his trainer is no exception.

Both of these starters, having gone through trial after trial with each of their trainer's had the motivation to pick themselves back up.

Spinda was first, though slowly and sometimes looking like he was about to fall... Shortly after was Pikachu, who panted but managed to stand tall in his hind legs.

Both Pokemon started at each other intensely as if trying to see if they truly doing this for their trainer, their best friend.

"Spiii..." Spinda said a small little smile dotting his face. Quickly he turned back to his trainer and with a bit of effort gave a thumbs up.

Jed stood there for a moment than began to softly chuckle. Tilting his head and with warm eyes, he too gave a thumbs up back to Spinda.

Spinda appeared satisfied with this answer, giggled a before giving the gesture to Ash and Pikachu as if congratulating them. Then...

he fainted.

There was no need to call the end of the battle... for really no one wanted to say anything. Ash and Pikachu just stood there in shock to their sudden victory and Anabel knew that she shouldn't interrupt the moment with the referee nonsense.

"Pii... Pi..." Pikachu was feeling a bit faint and everyone noticed that. Quickly Anabel declared Pikachu was the winner.

Next thing the electric type knew, he was being gently picked up by Ash and was now cradled in his arms. Ash grinned big time at his partner while softly petting his starter's cheeks. "You did awesome buddy."

"Pi...pi...chu?"

Ash laughed having no idea what he just said. "Yeah..." But that seemed to be a good answer for Pikachu who slowly drifted off to sleep.

Ash saw Jed reach for Spinda, not by his Poke'Ball but with his own two hands. An odd nostalgia look seemed to cross the aura Philosopher's face looking at his Pokemon. Unlike what Pikachu had been, Spinda was already asleep, giving in to his exhaustion.

While still holding Pikachu, Ash stuck his hand out to the other teen to shake. It took a moment or two but then the two boys found themselves shaking hands over a very good battle.

"Nice job Ash." Jed said, not at disappointed by the lost. "You gave me a run for my money out there... And you are certainly talented. One day, you'll make a fine- no- a great Pokemon trainer."

Ash took the compliment humbly. "Thank you. Thank you for... such a fun battle... I really leaned a lot from all your methods."

Jed chuckled a bit. "My methods... oh no Ash, I'm afraid I only had one... the other times I just copied you."

"Me?" Ash was very confused at this.

"Of course... Your a genius in battle. Your ways of pulling things off are indeed extraordinary. The only possible reason to why I was able to come up with my own versions is well... I'm just very adaptable."

"I see." Ash said looking deep in thought.

"Oh right!" Jed exclaimed remembering something. "Before I forget." He went over to his satchel, unzipping it to bring out what looked like a several jars in a box being covered by plastic. "These are for you." He said handing them to Ash.

"What are they?"

Vitamins... they will make your Pokemon stronger. Think of it as a... reward, of course I was going to give them to you either way."

Ash eyes widen. He remembered that Vitamins were not cheep at all and wondered how Jed could even get this let alone the whole set.  
As if reading his mind Jed answered. "I'm very good with my finances." And he left it at that.

"You did wonderful out there Ash." Anabel came up to him, a small but very affectionate smile was on her.

Ash blushed a bit. "Hehe... thanks Anabel. So have I improved from when I first started here?"

Anabel smiled more. "Yes most defiantly." She looked very shy at the moment but then unexpectedly kissed Ash on the cheek.

Our Hero's body froze up as if he had been hit with Ice Beam and his mind went blank for the over loading sense of having something so wonderful as that small kiss was too much for our trainer to comprehend. It was like a glowing hearth, the freshness of a spring, the breeze of a –

Out side of Ash's mind, Jed and Anabel stared with great humor at Ash's dopy and love-struck face.

"I... Think I should take off now." Jed said not wanting to make this situation anymore awkward than it was for the two. He felt sorry for poor Anabel who's face was as red as a Crabby's shell.

"Think he liked it?" Still unsure of herself and her _'bold_' move.

Jed quirked an eyebrow. "What do you think?" He said with great sarcasm. It was very obvious by Ash's still dazed out mind set that he liked it very much.

Soon enough, the trainer fell flat on his back still too dazed to stand up strait.

"Right..." Jed said with uncertainty. "I'll be on my way. You take care now Miss Anabel."

The Salon Maiden waved him away before turning back to our Hero.

_'You've grown so strong Ash. I'm glad I am part of this life of yours were your inner zeal never stops growing.  
Thank you Ash.'_

x

Down stairs Jed looked behind him as if expecting Ash to come out of the elevator door. He sighed when he didn't. But it was more out of relief than anything else.

"Ash Ketchum... Hmph... You are far more than what you expect to be."

* * *

**I am never doing a Six-on-Six battle ever again. Yeesh!**

**I am really trying to be careful around Jed. I do not wish for him to over taking the story. If you think he is... I'm sorry. He won't be showing up for much around the next chapter anyway.**

**So yeah... What was really trying to aim for here was Ash's love for his Pokemon and how much it has grown.  
It always amazes me how Pokemon fanfics often lack the most prominent things that make up the show Pokemon, and that is the bond between the Pokemon and the Human. The affection of relying on each other that is gained through trial and experience.**

**With From One Side to Another, I don't just want to write another romance fic, I want it to be integrated and how possible it will be in the actual world of Pokemon. **

**Now about the results. Jed could match up with Ash because Jed is 18 years old, there for has more experience. Ash was able to keep up because Ash is well... you heard it from up there, almost a prodigy to Pokemon battles. (you got to admit there is something about him).**

**Not much AbilityShipping but that will change by next chapter...**

**...**

**P.S. The Storm is important!**


	18. Eye of the Storm

**Merry Christmas everyone. And a very embarrassed and terribly sorry True-InTha-Blue gives you guys the long awaited and highly late chapter 18 for From One Side to Another.**

As for reasons why this is so late is because my life is very very busy right now and I simply didn't have enough time to write. I will try to update faster in the future but I'm not making any promises.

**Any way remember if you have any questions please ask and I will do my best to answer them.**

**Merry Christmas!**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another  
By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 18

Eye of the Storm

(Two months after the initiation)

Ash sighed as he worked on hammering the new walls on Anabel's repaired 99th floor. Along with the constant vibration of tools going around him,the head barking orders and Jed crying in the background, these were the sounds he had grown accustomed to while working for the past four days. Pikachu was beside him; the electric type trying his best to keep up with the work that the more adaptable humans and fighting Pokémon were accustomed too. But his pudgy yellow arms couldn't lift for the life of him even a hammer. And so to be of use, Pikachu offered his abilities to power the electronic machinery. Not only was this efficient but Anabel didn't have to pay for the electricity used for the bill.

Thinking of the Salon Maiden, our hero sighed again. He still felt pretty bad for wrecking her personal battle field; thanks to the fact that he had so graciously volunteered to help out reconstructing it Ash hadn't had the time to train or spend time with her. But now looking back, he could see that she was teaching him a lesson about going overboard with certain things. It would do no good for anyone if he did this during his job; yeah sure, he could still be passionate and eager to go for anything but still…  
"It is important that you always watch your steps Ash. That way you know that you are walking on a path to begin with." Anabel said with a stern yet somehow gentle smile.  
Red rose to his lightning bolt checks remembering that smile, which lead him to remembering the kiss she gave him over his victory. More heat came to his face as Ash touched the spot where her lips made contact.  
It was certainly different from what he expected. Not at all like a kiss from Mom or his Grandma.  
It was like… hmmm, being wrapped up in your favorite blanket or maybe more like finding the best flower ever. It was sweet and simple.  
The boy couldn't help but sheepishly smile now. That kiss was just so… so nice! It made him happy and Anabel was involved with it so… yeah.  
But… our hero wondered what it would be like to return the favor.  
Not longingly of course, no. Ash didn't spend time gazing at the purple haired female, he had work to do! Sometimes, when working through, the want to try such a new… subject popped in his head.

But enough of that. Ash Ketchum had work to do, now with his injuries all healed the boy was back at a hundred percent and for this job, it was going to get just that.  
The men and women workers here were nice enough, apparently having close ties to Anabel and the Battle Frontier in general.  
For some part, the job of reconstruction was pretty fun when they taught him how to do certain task.  
In the back of his mind, he committed all this to memory incase mason skills might become useful sometime in the future.  
Taking one last look at his handy work, Ash decided that he did a decent job. It was time for his break and it just so happened that Pikachu was also resting from his job as a living battery.  
"Hey little buddy." Ash sat right beside his starter. "Are you feeling well?" He didn't want Pikachu to push himself too much.  
The Mouse Pokemon looked at his trainer with sleepy eyes; it was hard for him to recognize who it was as Ash had the same gear as the workers, ragged jeans covered in dust and a paint splattered white shirt. Realizing it was indeed Ash, Pikachu got up however stumbling a bit from his tired body.  
"Ah." Ash said picking his starter up. "C'mon Pikachu don't do that. It's not alright to push ya self." Grudgingly Pikachu settled on his friends shoulders.  
Not wanting to be inconsiderate, Ash went to the main guy who ran most of the equipment to tell of Pikachu's condition.  
"That's alright!" The man with a beard smiled "We're almost done away. But I tell you boy that your Pikachu there certainly is something."  
Ash chuckled agreeing with that statement. The color purple caught his eye though, and a blush came to when he saw Anabel in similar working gear, come and monitor everyone's progress.  
Her face was stern and business like; Espeon was faithfully by her side somehow mimicking her trainer's attitude.  
Ash gazed at them admiring how they seemed to be so professional when ever they wanted to be. He wondered a bit on how he will act at his facility.  
Anabel felt a pair of eyes gazing at her; snapping her head around she came to see amber and blue and immediately blushed knowing who had them.  
Ash dropped his gaze also blushing from the eye contact. Just that simple act made him feel so.. fuzzy inside, and though it was a nice feeling, our hero felt like he had to be cautious to do these things as this was still new territory.  
"So you're taking a break uh?" Anabel's voice was near him. Looking up he saw the Salon Maiden closer now, his cheeks rising to a new level of red.

"Oh… oh yeah… I just got done with that wall over there." He said pointing eastward. He also motioned to Pikachu sleeping on his shoulder. "And I'm just giving Pikachu a place to rest. Guess he really wanted to help out today."  
Anabel smiled affectionately at both. "I guess then I'm going to have to treat him to something special later on." She said petting the electric type.  
Ash smiled at that and felt something rub against his leg. Espeon brushed against like a cat, her way of also showing appreciation.  
It was Anabel's turn to smile now. "I think Espeon agrees."  
"Really now?" Ash crouched down and reached out. The psychic type happily hopped in his arms and curled up to his chest.  
He noticed Anabel giving him an odd smile. "What is it" He asked before reaching to his mouth. "Do I have something on my face?" He was generally concerned.  
Anabel chuckled. "No it's not that… Its… I never seen Espeon take a shining like that to anyone before." She looked at him with admiration. "You're really something you know that" She said repeating the engineers' words.  
Ash blushed. "Aw shucks Anabel."  
The two laughed at that until a loud noise came from another construction worker.  
"How about we go outside?" Anabel suggested beckoning to the door.  
Ash looked startled  
"Wait? Aren't I suppose to be working right now?"  
"Ooh… you've been cooped up for a while now. I think you deserve a break." She said with a smile  
Ash happily took that offer, almost rushing past her before she could blink with Pikachu and Espeon in tow.

* * *

Though it was not raining, it was still very humid and hot outside with its overcast clouds. Lightening was a bit off to the distance but somehow getting closer. But it did not bother our couple as they walked towards Cobalt Port. They walked with a brisk pace; Ash was telling Anabel about the recent status of the 99th floor; the construction to any problems that might be happening.  
Anabel listened with vivid interest and while talking Ash now noticed that she had a blue raincoat tied around her waist. His mind went to over the numerous of times these past days where Anabel would suddenly disappear admits the torrent of rain and storms saying she'll be back, when she did her, the poor girl was soaked to the bone and held a small frown of disappointment.  
In his nature, Ash was concerned and wanted to offer help, however, another part of him (apparently going into a relationship with someone gave you another set of instincts) that it was best not to get involved with personal affairs.  
"Ash what's the matter?" Anabel asked noticing he had zoned out.  
"Oh! Ah... nothing Anabel." He showed of his trademark grin to ease her worries  
She smirked. "Don't' push yourself."

He smirked back at the jab but then halted looking towards the sky. "Hey Anabel I think we should hurry up."  
It took awhile for our Salon Maiden to figure out what he was talking about. Up in the sky, the darkest and most ominous rain clouds crept forward at an alarming rate; below you could see the wall of rain slowly coming their way.

As any smart trainer could tell; if those clouds hit before they reached shelter, it would only take a few seconds before they became covered in water.

Anabel got the message. "Let's go!"  
Their pace quickened to a light jog. Pikachu was still sleeping on Ash's shoulder and Espeon clutched at his chest. Ash and Anabel took for cover when the rain hit hard and fast.

Thanks to the Salon Maiden's usual quick thinking, both humans and Pokemon kept dry when she threw her raincoat over them at least sheltering them somewhat from the winds and water. It was then when the two human's realized how close they were in the small cover of the coat. Ash towering over Anabel from behind in order for both to fit in. A small blush rose to both of their cheeks yet true to themselves they laughed it off and found this situation to be both cute and funny. Holding their Pokemon, they trudged on the muddying path on to Cobalt Port taking heed that they couldn't go too fast unless they liked to fall in the mud.

The sea side town was a stark contrast of how it usually looked in the sun. With the rain, there were no merchants selling new items, all the stalls were closed. Not a single soul was about, people or Pokemon interacting and going amidst their daily lives. Far off, you could see the waves turning within the sea and crashing onto the docks and flooded the streets.

The only people visible were silhouettes of the sailors in heavy rain coats continuing their jobs unloading any cargo from the ships and securing the boats to a study mast.  
Warm lights of candles shined in the windows, for you see, few houses in Cobalt town had electricity, preferring the outdoor sun to light their homes. But with sun hidden, candles and oil lamps were the peoples and Pokemon's source of illumination.

Not hesitating on where to go, Anabel and Ash went directly into Von's Bakery. Inside was a warm fire, several people and pokemon, some tamed and some not. They paid no heed to the newest visitors, the humans helping some wild Pokemon who were too sick to travel back to their forest homes. Mr. Von, the owner, did however notice the couple; pointing to a stack of towels for those soaking wet like them.

Anabel cast a quick smile towards the elder before taking one and giving one to Ash to dry off their Pokemon. Espeon being easy to dry off because of her fine fur while Ash had to take extra care of handling the electric type in order to make sure all moisture was off. Finally the humans managed to dry themselves up for a bit before taking a place before the fire with their Pokemon.

It was about this time that somebody noticed who was there.  
"Hey, its Anabel." One girl said out loud realizing their local celebrity was there. Pokemon and human alike gathered around her trying to see if she really was there.

Blushing, the Salon Maiden shyly acknowledged their presence which seemed to please the surrounding group. Ash noticed her perturbed look and ask her what's wrong.  
Our heroine simply shook her head "Nothing. Just really don't like attention that's all."  
Ash wisely didn't intrude further. But this served as a reminder that unlike him, Anabel was not a people person.

Further away two boys had a conversation that was not easy to ignore.  
One boy who was younger then his friend had been speaking quietly how lously this storm has been and asked one question that everyone was curious to know. "How long do you think this storm will last?" He asked casually.

His friend looked puzzled by this. "I really don't know. We don't normally have this type of weather in Kanto. Pretty unusual right... You're either sweltering inside your raincoat because of the humidity or your being soaked without one."

The younger friend asked another question. "So this is not a normal storm, then what's causing it?"

"Isn't it obvious." A newcomer had come into the conversation. "A Pokemon is causing it." It was an Ace Trainer. Green hair, tall female and a haughty look about her.  
The boys looked at her skeptically but didn't protest, for this was not already suspected. "A powerful Pokemon at that, probably even legendary." The Ace Trainer continued. "And no storm is going to stop me from catching it." She said confidently.

This did not bode well for the Salon Maiden; she was going to speak her mind when our favorite Pikachu trainer spoke first.  
"Do you really think that's a good idea?" He asked genuinely curious as to why this trainer would risk herself for that.

The Ace Trainer, shocked that someone would question her motives and obviously did not know who she was talking to, gasped but retained her cool persona. "Well of course. Little boy I'm a professional when it comes to Pokemon, and someone as experienced as me can easily capture a Legendary Pokemon."

While she said this, Ash couldn't help but think 'Man she sounds so much like... Jessie from Team Rocket.'  
Still he couldn't help but shake his head. "I dunno..." He started pacing thinking while others were starting to get drawn in the conversation. "I seen gym leaders and specialist who all thought they could capture Legendary Pokemon. But... none of them really succeeded."

The ace trainer looked indignant however Ash's statement got everyone thinking.  
"Hey he's right you know." A girl around Ash's age said to her friend. "Remember the world crisis that was caused by the legendary birds of Orange Island. Someone tried to capture them as well and it nearly caused the end of the world or something like that."

"Hey she's right." Another boy said. "I was like around eleven at that time when I watched it on the TV's. All the pokemon including mine were going crazy."

Voices murmured along, agreeing how legendary Pokemon can cause such crisis.

"Hey remember when all those crystals were covering Johto by the unknown?"  
"Wait what about the Hoenn? I remember massive storms and the volcano going off during my journey there when Team Aqua and Magma tried to awaken Kyogre and Groudon."  
"I heard a rumor that Alto city went haywire when somebody tried to mess with the pokemon guardians."  
"Hey I remember that someone said that they saw Rayquaza and some other strange powerful Pokemon during their visit in LaRousse City."  
"That's nothing compared to what I heard about Alamos Town which supposedly got sucked to another dimension by the Sinnoh deities."

The pompous woman shrank down in embarrassment, she sweatdropped and hoped to avoid attention now. It's amazing what happens when people start talking about their own experiences.

Mr. Von noticed this change and intervene. "Now, now children." He called out to the kids and teenagers. "Legendary Pokemon are creatures to be respected. Don't speak so lightly about them. Here in Kanto, the legendary Pokemon are symbols of great power and a force of nature. Whether or not this storm is caused by a Pokemon we as trainers and people in general must remember that there is a reason behind it."

No one said anything but you could tell that everyone agreed with the bakery owner.  
When Ash sat back down Anabel shot him a smile.  
"What?" He asked; Pikachu had curled himself in his arms.

"It's good you spoke up." She said before switching to a quieter voice. "I take it you had a lot of experience with Legendary Pokemon?"

His words were caught in his throat. How did Anabel know that? "Uh... yeah." He whispered. "Is that... uh wrong? I-"

She eased his worries. "No there's nothing wrong with that."

* * *

Somewhere else Aka Secret Team Rocket base.

"Mr. Giovanni." A Team Rocket commander walked into their leader's office. "We have confirmed reports from Cassidy and... Biff? About the Battle Frontier."

* * *

Somewhere far far away...  
"IT'S BUTCH!" Butch screamed to the sky.  
"What's wrong with you?" Cassidy asked startled by her partner's outcry.  
"I!... dunno..."

For the rest of the day, Butch felt at unease.

* * *

Back at Team Rocket Base.

"This better be good. I am busy trying to make plans for the next move in our operation in Unova. Surprisingly those idiots will be of use." He whispered the last part to himself.

The commander saluted. "Of course sir! From what the two say is that each Frontier Brain has a large share of land that they control, normally including a small town, a pokemon center and their Battle Facility. Numerous Pokemon have been spotted in each of the areas and both wild and trained have shown... a strong loyalty to the Battle Brains. In one of their attempts to test the Battle Brain "The Salon Maiden" a wild gyarados attacked them when they threatened her. And so in conclusion, an individual attack on their grounds would not be favorable."

Giovanni blinked twice to register this information. He already had a plan in his head. "Is there anything scheduled for a future tournament?"

The commander thought about this. "No sir. Not to my information."

The boss returned to his computer. "Make it a fundraiser and promotional type."

"We hit them there boss?"  
"Indeed."

* * *

It was now at the point where the wind was howling mercilessly both inside and outside. The streets now had at least six-inches of water trailing down them. People, including Von's bakery, had to barricade the door in order to prevent it from swinging open by the forces of nature. Everyone unconsciously huddled close to the fire, though there was no need for it as it was already hot, however it provided comfort against the harsh weather.  
Some have taken up washing the bakery's dishes in order to provide a distraction from the constant whistling wind.

Normal trainers and regular people alike have made small games to play with each other and the Pokemon.  
Ash and Anabel however, were Frontier Brains, as such instead of wasting time, the teacher and apprentice tested on what has Ashy-boy learned so far. After all, he only had one month of apprenticeship left.

"And then what?" Anabel asked him leaning on a desk.

Ash sighed racking his brain trying to remember. "Let's see... Uh, I think that's when you activate the main panel and manually manipulate the system. ...And then... then... once the... conduite is set up... yours or a nearby electric Pokemon should be able to activate the power afterwards." He looked at her expectantly.

"Correct."  
Our hero grinned glad he is able to remember this techno-babble for when he had his own facility.  
But of course he owed this to his teacher of course, Anabel had drilled this lessons into him, neither criticizing nor letting him get off easy.

"Thanks Anabel." He said truly grateful.

It just so happened when someone peared outside of the window.  
"HEY Everyone look!" He said waving his arm for everyone to come see. "It's the eye of the storm!"

Ash watched as the Salon Maiden's eyes lit up in such a way that could be described as... excitement? He watched her B-line towards the window to see the eye of the storm for herself.  
Sure enough, in the middle of the forest was a gaping hole in the stormy clouds. It shined light like a beacon over the darken landscape; everyone watched in awe at the beautiful sight and perfectly distracted.

A humid and powerful blast of wind plowed inside when a window was open, blowing out the lamps and candles and therefore plunging the room in darkness. On instinct Ash activated his aura vision and was the only one who noticed a certain someone leaping out the window.

'ANABEL?!' He cried out in his mind. Was she crazy? Going out in the weather like this. Not having time to think very rationally, he grabbed the nearest raincoat, thinking he will be able to return it later, and took after the purple haired trainer, though not before telling Pikachu he will be right back. He proceeded through the window despite of the protest of his Pikachu.  
Rain pelted him like bullets and hindered his sight. Everything was dark and blurred and normally would have deterred anyone as there was no possible way to see anything. Luckily he had Aura Sight, and following the faint glow of a running figure Ash took off like a hound on a fox hunt.  
Something had to be going on with Anabel, our hero thought to himself. He went back to his previous thoughts on how she had been going outside at seemingly random times of the day despite of the current weather.  
It seemed crazy, but Ash knew Anabel, or at least he like to think he did, and he liked to think that she never did anything without a good reason. The question that plagued him was, Why? Why was she doing this?

He was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't notice himself running right into a fellow.

"Woah! Slow down Ponyta!" A hand prevented Ash from crashing into the person and forcing him to look up.

"Noland?!" He shouted over the wind.  
Indeed it was Noland, dressed in a heavy rain coat and goggles, however, beneath his hood was the signature red hat.

"Hey nice to see ya Ash!" Noland happily greeted despite of water pouring down on both of them. "What are you chasing after?"

"What?!" Ash cried trying to engage in conversation while trying to keep an eye of the disappearing aura.

"I SAID WHAT ARE YOU CHASING AFTER?!"

"ANABEL!"

"AH THAT MAKES SENSE!" Noland now knowing what was going on. "LET'S GO AFTER HER!" He sprinted off towards the eye of the storm.  
Ash had caught up to him halfway there.

"SO YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON NOLAND?" He asked over the wind.

"OH! SHE HASN'T TOLD YOU YET?"  
"TELL ME WHAT?"  
It occurred to Noland that Ash still remained ignorant of the Battle Frontier's most remarkable trait that set them apart from other organizations. Oh well, this was a perfect time to explain it if any.  
"NEVER MIND! I'LL SHOW YOU!"  
Ash having little choice if any, followed the Factory Head.

The eye of the storm is almost magical. Amongst the roaring storm and whipping winds, a small circle of peace shined on the land. The mass swirling torrent was non-existent in the eye and it amazed Ash how unaffected this small piece of land was. He took off his hood and shook of the excess water and saw Noland do the same.  
They were in a clearing, trees surrounding them like shield. He saw Anabel looking around seemingly oblivious to their presence. He stepped closer only for Noland to hold him back.  
The Factory Head smiled and winked as his way of telling Ash to wait.

Wait for what though?  
No one would answer him so Ash was left with nothing except his instincts.  
He felt the hairs on his arms raise up as anticipating something. Something within him, a wilder side, felt something coming, old yet young. What? What could this be?  
Two roars surrounded the area making the humans having to cover their ears. The sound seemed to make the area around them fill will heat and storms, it was almost like being underwater.  
Ash glanced at Anabe again worrying about her safety yet Noland seemed completely calm about the situation, so against his better judgement, Ash held back.

Then appearing on the sides of our heroes, Entei and Raikou came in a flash of thunder standing majestically as the wind blew their manes forward.  
Slowly they stalked towards Anabel.

At this point Ash could not believe Noland anymore that this situation was safe. As a dealer with legendary pokemon Ash knew better than most people how dangerous they were. He broke off to a run intending to defend the Salon Maiden and yet...  
And yet... why was she smiling?

She had a grin, like the one people get from seeing a long time friend after some time apart. This slowed him down. His brain not comprehending what was going on.  
The two beast approached even slower now as they got nearer, now side by side and almost a foot before Anabel.

Ash watched jaw dropped when she flung her arms around their necks and brought the two close to her.

Anabel giggled when the legendaries reacted the same, having a paw over her shoulder each. "Hello my dear friends." She greeted them cheerfully.

Our hero's jaw dropped even further.  
Friends?  
Anabel was friends with the legendary Pokemon Raikou and Entei?  
Was he seeing and hearing things?

"Those guys sure must've missed her to cause such a racket, eh Ash?" Noland walked up like there was nothing unusual about this.

Ash tried to find the right words. "Missed her?... You mean... they've met before and-wait." He remembered that Noland had befriended an Articuno; could this be the same thing?  
"Are you telling me that she has befriended them like you and Articuno?" He asked.

The older Frontier Brain shook his head. "Nah. Me and Arti go back way before the the Battle Frontier. Ya see... while Anabel did befriend these two, she also has captured them. See it's part of being a Frontier Brain."

Obviously this surprised Ash even further. "You mean to say that all the Frontier Brains have legendary Pokemon and not just you and Brandon?"

"That's right Ash." Anabel had joined in; she was standing with the great beast on each side of her. Such a sight seeing how the legendaries tower over the girl.  
"You see, this is what separates us from the gym leaders and even the elite four... we must prove ourselves to be the friends of even the greatest of Pokemon and show our strength and courage to them."

The two beast shook their great manes agreeing with her.  
"Rai."  
"Ent."

"All this time..." Ash was very confused right now. Throughout his journey, Legendary Pokemon have always been something so... so beyond him... yet here he was and he was suppose to find a befriend one as proof that he was a Frontier Brain.  
How could he though?"

"How can I?" He asked more to himself then anyone else.

"How can you what?" Noland ask.

Ash stared at them both, sternly. "I'm... I'm just Ash Ketchum. How can I go at find..."

"But you already have haven't you?" Noland asked him.  
Ash began to think that he did befriend legendaries before... Celebi... and then there's Lugia... Giratina, Shaymin and Azelf.  
"But how do you know this?"

Noland smiled. "Let's just say that Scott kept an eye on you after you trip through the Battle Frontier."

...  
"He really wanted me to join that much?"

The two Frontier Brains deadpanned.  
"You have no idea." They said simultaneously.

Still Ash didn't know how to feel about this this new element however he felt a bit better now that he remembered that he had befriended them before.

"When will I have to find a legendary and where?"

The two Frontier Brains looked at each other. "Around, say the middle of the month. Hopefully you know which region to go to by then and we'll go by personal boat to go there." Noland answered.

This sounded good and all but something still bothered Ash. "How long do I have?" He voiced the ominous question.

"As long as it takes Ash." Anabel's reply was honest. "Hey, my search took me almost four weeks to find Raikou and mine was the shortest of them all."

"If we didn't believe you could do it Ash then you would not be here at all." Noland said.

Ash nodded seeing what they meant. If these guys have already done the impossible and befriended these legendary Pokemon and were the same ones who believed he could be like them, then... he would be in good hands when push comes to shove.  
This was already proven how good a teacher Anabel has been to him.

"Alright." He said then something popped up. "How come you have Entei as well Anabel?" He pointed towards the volcano Pokemon.

"Oh well... It was during my break and I sorta ran into him." She said placing a hand on his great mane.  
The great beast showed what looked like a smile towards Anabel  
Noland looked up seeing that the storm was slowing down now that the Raikou and Entei had been calmed down. "Hey Ash where's Pikachu?" He asked noticing the boy was missing his partner.  
"Aw Crap!" His voice started several bird Pokemon from the trees.

* * *

"Look Pikachu I'm really sorry!" Ash kneeled before the disgruntled electric type. They had returned to Anabel's cottage with Noland in tow, yet the owner of the house stayed out, doing her normal duty of checking the wild pokemon and to see if they are safe.  
Pikachu was rather put out for his trainer abandoning him in the dark bakery full of strangers without a clue why Ash and Anabel took off.  
It had been the silent treatment since Ash finally came back and has been apologizing profusely since.

"C'mon buddy I was worried about Anabel and I know how you feel about getting soaked. Look at my clothes! They're still wet." He pointed to his work clothes hanging over the fireplace to dry. Ash was wearing a robe over some sweatpants and a oversized nightshirt with soaks.  
Noland came also wearing a spare robe. "I don't think your going to get to him Ash. Best leave him to steam for a while." He suggested to poor Ash.

He didn't like that, yet Ash had been apologizing for over an hour and he still hadn't gotten anywhere with the stubborn Pikachu. "Alright." After that Noland seemed to wander somewhere else.  
It was then when Anabel arrived back with Raikou and Entei in tow.  
"Everyone seems fine and thankfully the storm has subdued somewhat." She turned to the beast. "I've told you guys before, don't go crazy when you're trying to gain my attention." Grabbing a towel and tossing one to Ash she said. "Can you help me dry them off Ash?"  
Ash, who never had approached a legendary Pokemon unless in a do or die situation, approached cautiously. "Uh sure."  
He mimicked her actions, kneeling down and rubbing Entei with towel in small circles. He watched closely to how the legendary fire-type would react, however it seemed that this entei was fine around humans.

Dried and clean the Legendary Pokemon head straight towards the living room; where Pikachu was.  
Pikachu blinked once and then twice to make sure he was seeing correctly. Two of the three legendary Beast where in Anabel's living room?  
Acting on instinct, Pikachu wasted no time hiss at them and display sparks from his cheeks as a warning.  
Humorously though, Raikou and Entei either didn't see him or completely ignored the treat. They trotted straight for the couch, laying their massive bodies over it casually.  
"Pika?"

Ash's head poked through the doorway. "Oh Sorry Pikachu! I forgot to tell you about them."  
Pikachu sharply glared at his trainer. "PIKAPI! Pikachu pika!"

Ash hung his head. "Sorry man." He saw the Legendaries on the furniture. "Wow. They sure are relaxed here."  
Anabel came right from behind him carrying something. "Oh, this isn't their first time here. They come and go as they please." Somehow she squeezed between the two on the seat and what she set down were two strange Pokeballs.  
They had the same spherical and button as regular ones however one seemed to be made out of smoke and embers and the other was sparks and clouds. She noticed him staring. "These are Raikou's and Entei's Pokeballs."

"Why are they so different?" Ash asked sitting down on the floor. Pikachu seemed to have cooled down enough to hop in his lap.

Anabel thought about this. "Sometimes… Pokemon who, are more tied in with nature, alter the Pokeballs because…" She took on in her hand. "Unlike other ones, these capsules won't just hold Raikou or Entei but… they summon them as well."

"Summon?"  
"Chu Pi?"  
She smiled. "As you know…Legendary Pokemon hardly ever like to stay in one place. And as their friend and their trainer, I must let them do so. That's part of the deal. But say I need them… whether a very powerful trainer has come my way or even if I'm in danger, these special capsule will allow me to summon either Raikou or Entei to my side… even when their half way across the world."  
"Wow." Ash said very impressed.

This was different than what he expected. There was a system to it that benefited them both. "I guess, when you call them back they just return to where they were?"  
Anabel and the beast nodded. "That's right."  
"So how did you meet these guys anyway?" Ash asked. "I mean I know it is part of your introduction as a Frontier Brain but how and why?" He could feel Pikachu nod in agreement curious too for the story.

The Salon Maiden leaned back against the fur of the Legendaries recalling memories. "I guess… this goes back to when I a little girl." She smiled sadly. "I remember that I always kept reading the tale of the Tin Tower. It always made me so sad watching those pictures full of fire and smoke as the tower burned down. And I also always cried when I heard of the three Pokémon that died in that fire. And yet… on the page that had Oh-Ho in the center of it, where it shined it's rainbow down on the earth and in the middle were the resurrected Pokemon as Legendaries, I felt a sense of hope within me. Once in Kanto, I heard that they rebuilt the Brass tower and I've always wanted to go see it. So when it was my turn to find a legendary pokemon to befriend, I decided Johto I where I would go."

"Oh cool! So you saw the Tin Tower as I did." Ash exclaimed recalling his journey through Johto. "Did you see the Crystal Bells?"

Anabel nodded excitedly. "Oh yes! It was hard to get in but once I proved my strength the the Gym Leader… Um… what's his name…"  
"The gym leader? Oh his name's Morty. I haven't seen him in a while… I should go back to Johto some time." Ash muttered the last part to himself.  
"Right so, back to finding Raikou; I didn't really know what I was looking for so I traveled all over the place for almost four weeks until...

_Three years ago…_

_Morty came towards the small purple haired girl. "Hey what are you still doing out here little Anabel? A fierce storm is heading this way." _

_ The girl, a 10 year (almost eleven year) old child turned toward him with determined eyes. She held close her recently evolved Espeon. _  
_"I'm sorry Mr. Morty!" She called out earnestly, truly sorry that she was making the nice gym leader worry. "But I can feel something."_

_"Can't it wait?" Morty tried to argue with her. He wanted to keep the small trainer safe, heck no one was safe in this type of weather._  
_"I'll be safe! I have Espeon with me now." She set her Pokemon down._  
_"Espe!" _  
_Morty sighed. He was the one who triggered her Eevee's evolution. Even with her remarkable empathetic abilities he thought for sure he would win against the normal type with his non-ghost type moves, just figures it would evolve into a psychic type and learn Shadow Ball and Dark Slash at the same moment._

_Young Anabel huffed fed up. "You can't stop me! C'mon girl!" She said taking off in the dense foliage towards the rocky cliffs._  
_Morty tried to stop her but a quick blast of Confusion set him straight down on his bum. _  
_Anabel looked up towards the sky of lighting sensing something in the back of her mind that this was no ordinary storm. She grinned feeling the wild power of whatever Pokemon was causing this._

_Which one was it? Zapdos? Rayquaza? Or was it even her home region Legendary? The Dragon Zek—_  
_"Espee Espe!" The psychic type called out to her trainer sensing something near._

_Anabel halted her thoughts trying to pinpoint the direction her Pokemon was referring to._  
_Together they saw a faint glowing light behind some rocks, slowly, the young girl and her Pokemon approached it; their eyes widened when they saw a large yellow Pokemon who, though whose very being was like lightning, appeared weakened. _  
_It was Raikou, young Anabel finally figured out, one of the three beast who ran across the world!_

_Said Pokemon spotted the trainer and her starter and snarled sending out a wave of sparks. _  
_Quickly Anabel and Espeon hide behind some rock, wide eyed with terror. They sat there for a long time, probably for a good hour or so before they decided it was safe to move._

_Quietly she thought about her situation. She found a legendary! That was good right? Yet… it was hurt and she knew that pokemon who were hurt were very, very hostile. It would do her no good to just try to capture it. After all, her teacher Brandon said this wasn't about getting a legendary pokemon it was about gaining its friendship, to build the bridge over the hole separating the mightiest of creatures from humanity._  
_She had to befriend it but how? Anabel looked at her starter for answers though she knew that would be silly because her Pokemon was just as clueless as she was._  
_Just then, the Sun Pokemon's stomach growled. It had been a while since they've eaten. The human smiled already getting out a Pecha berry for her. _  
_This gave Anabel an idea though!_

_She knew some berries had health regenerating properties… and it just so happened that she had many sitrus berries with her. _  
_Done feeding Espeon, Anabel crawled up the jagged rocks to where the pit Raikou was. She stayed out of sight thanks to a large rock jutting out. And slowly she rolled down one sitrus berry._

_The great Beast growl sensing someone, Anabel stiffened staying as still as she could. Then she heard someone, probably Raikou, sniffing. A few more minutes passed when Anabel could peer around the rock to see Raikou consume the berry, cautiously of course._  
_And it took 20 minutes before another sitrus berry rolled down. This time the Raikou looked around trying to spot who was bringing these. A Pokemon or a human? He waited a bit before eating this one too, already a bit better._

_Another 20 minutes before the next one came down. Raikou wasted no time in gulping this one, now affirming that this food is safe._  
_The same routine went on for 2 hours. Then sometime passed before a purple mop of hair showed up in sight. Anabel made eye contact with the Raikou before dropping down another Sitrus Berry._

_Raikou then knew who was trying to heal him and let her slide down the rocks near him for he had no fear of this human that held a pure heart. An Espeon followed behind the human girl who looked worriedly at her human before turning to stare at the Raikou._  
_The meaning of the glaze was clear: no funny business._

_The legendary was now aware that the girl was very near to him now, looking at his right paw that had been damaged._  
_"Oh dear." Anabel said out loud looking at the injury.. She dove in her rucksack and brought out a potion. Though she didn't use it, instead she reached out her hand slowly to touch the forehead of the electric type._  
_Raikou was surprised when he felt soothing emotions of friendliness and kindness fill him; soon he figured out it came from the girl; he learned that her intent was to heal him but it would sting._  
_He sent the message for her to proceed._

_Anabel nodded, gently as possible she applied the spray onto the wound._  
_It did sting though Raikou snarled a bit, though not at Anabel, through his teeth. But the pain soon went away when she began to wrap the paw in some dressings. Raikou felt a lot better now and spoke through a friendly growl that he was thankful._  
_"No problem." Anabel said to him. The legendary began to suspect that this human could understand Pokemon. The Pokemon and the human looked up to see that the thunderstorm had passed seeing now the cause had been healed. It now showed a starry black sky in the middle of the night._

_Anabel made a fire so that they could see and laid out her bed roll ready for bed. Espeon laid outside still suspicious for the legendary. This maid the young girl giggle. She knew better, Raikou was a nice Pokemon and she knew he wouldn't hurt her._  
_"Good night Espeon" She said slowly going to sleep._  
_"Esp."_  
_"Good night Raikou."_

* * *

_Awaking, Anabel was so very disappointed that Raikou was nowhere to be found. He must have left when she was still asleep._  
_Anabel sighed in defeat fearing that she was going to have to spend another four weeks out wandering, she hope Scott would understand. _  
_With Espeon Anabel climbed out of the jagged pit._  
_"C'mon Espeon, maybe we can go get something to eat back at the PokeCenter." The psychic type ears flattened hearing the sad note in her trainers voice._  
_"Arrrrrrrr."_

_A shadow fell over both of them and fearfully they turned around expecting the worst. And the worst was Raikou holding a large leaf in his mouth._  
_The girls watched curiously when he let go of it revealing a bundle of berries and apples._  
_"Is this for us?" The human asked timidly. In daytime this Pokemon was imposing; her head barely came up to Raikou's chin._  
_The Electric type soothed the girls worries though nudging one towards her and Espeon._  
_And together as friends they shared breakfast._

_And yet Anabel still had much to worry about; though she had become a friend to the Legendary Beast, now she had to prove herself to be its trainer. But how do you approach that topic she wondered. _  
_To fight a legendary Pokemon._

_They walked and talked to each other throughout the day, Raikou traveling alongside Anabel and Espeon walked through the forest and even came to the Burned Ground._  
_The landmark brought a deep sadness on the trio, the scorched and dead ground were in over 150 years nothing has grown back since the tower burnt down._

_Anabel frowned looking around for something to comfort the legendary Pokemon. Until she saw it; it was a purple flower, laced petals, and yellow pistols within. It was called the Joy-bell flower, appearing when people needed a reminder of hope as it appeared during anywhere during times of hardship. The unique thing about it was that the Joy-bell flower appeared anywhere despite of climate._  
_Besides Pokemon, it was her favorite thing to talk to when alone._

_Raikou felt something soft shoved on his face; looking down he saw the young girl smile at him. "It will be alright." She said reaching up to tuck the flower in his fur. "This flower means that something good will come out of this and look." She point around the area. On the edges of the burned area, Joy-bells formed a ring of soft purple. "It will grow back."_

* * *

_Somehow, she mustered up the courage. It came out quite unexpectedly; like a lightening bolt. _  
_"I NEED TO BATTLE YOU!" Anabel yelled unexpectedly once the pressure of her journey built up too much. Several bird Pokemon flew from the trees from the volume of the small girl._

_Raikou stood before the small girl with his mouth a gap. Anabel stood almost shaking in anxiety huffing. "I'm sorry." She said after recovering from her explosion. "I still need more time to control my emotions." She turned away from the Raikou. "Look. I understand if you want to leave, but I do want to be your friend it just... Well, I'm going to be a Frontier Brain and I need to befriend and battle a... legendary Pokemon." She looked shyly towards Raikou. "But now saying that out loud, it sounds like I'm not a good friend." She tried to sound optimistic though. "I had a really great time and I'm glad I got to meet you." She didn't wait for any answer instead leaving feeling a horrible guiltiness like she had made a friend for all the wrong reasons._

_The small girl didn't get far, a small nudge on her back stopped Anabel._  
_Her ability picked up a thought that made hope swell in her like a balloon._

"_Let us battle little one." A great and powerful voice spoke to her._

(A/N: Please play on youtube the Legendary Beast Pokemon theme or Raikou's theme)

_"Right!" Anabel said now grinning with hope. She took out her Pokeball readying herself for probably the most toughest battle of her life._  
_Raikou roared now crouched as ready to attack._  
_"Kadabra! I need your help!" Anabel called her longtime friend._

End of Chapter 18


	19. Legends Among Us: Part I

**IM SORRRY FOR THE DELAY! Im am so sorry! I know how you guys feel waiting forever for the story you like to update and it takes forever!  
****I am truly sorry!  
Okay first off this is beginning of the Legends Saga, this first part will get the setting strait as long as the sub-arch with all of Ash's friends, like I have said like in the first chapter (two-three years ago) this will be similar to 'From Servent to Stardom", this will be one of them.  
I know have free time, for the first time in a half of year, so I will begin writing the next part immediately after this updates**

**I want to thank you guys so much for the encouragement and the support you guys have given me. This story would not have gotten this far if not for you guys.  
Thank you for staying loyal.  
Now lets begin.**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 19

Legends among us Part I

(Two months and 2 days after the initiation)

The day smelled like rain though it had been sunny for the last two days ever since the legendaries arrived. The ground was stilling drying though and Ash was still trying to get his mind around what exactly just had happened.

As he sat on a tree near Anabel's house he tried to register all what Anabel and Noland told him. Frontier Brains… they were required to befriend and train legendary Pokemon. This all just overwhelmed him.

Without a doubt Ash knew that he has had more experience with Legendaries than the average person (and possibly more than most Pokemon scientist) but all those experiences taught him was the misuse of Pokemon's powers. With the masked hunter, Team Rocket, Magma, Aqua and Galaxy. All these people sought to gain and control legendary Pokemon and only ended up making things worse. How could even he, a fourteen year old kid, be worthy of handling that power? It just wasn't right.

Trapped within the rummage of his mind he was unaware of one Battle Brain watching him.

Anabel looked at the boy in the tree with a concern in her eyes that didn't quiet suit her. Then again neither did Ash's own face of worry suit him either. For once the Salon Maiden was at a lost of words, she didn't know any advice to give him. Yet do to the fact she was unable to help drove Anabel crazy.

It became clear to the purpose why Noland arrived here at the same time the Raikou and Entie came. The Battle Factory Head came to observe and report back to Scott if Ash was ready for the Final test. Of course there was no real proof of this rather than just female intuition but that hasn't failed her yet.

So Anabel left Ash to his musings. Not wishing to interfere with his personal choice of what he should do. As his mentor all Anabel could do is  
encourage him to follow his heart.  
Meanwhile she had talk about Noland or a few things.

Anabel was joined by her three 'cats' on her way. Her faithful Espeon, and the two giant shadows of Entie and Raikou following the human they deemed worthy. They found Noland in a clearing behind her house tinkering with his favorite plane. He had flown it to Trojan Falls during the storm and unsurprisingly some parts needed to get cleaned before the Factory Head could fly again.

THe older man had already sensed them coming and was unaffected by Anabel's stern gaze.  
"Hey little sis whats up?" He asked oh so innocently.  
The Salon Maiden cut to the chase "Why did Scott decided to send you?" It wasn't her intent to sound rude but she knew Noland enough not to beat around the bush.

Sheepishly Noland scratched the back of his head. "Nothing ever gets past you does it Anabel?" He stood up to full height coming closer to talk. He gestured to the woods behind him, "C'mon lets walk."

Anabel looked at him sternly "Promise me you're not going to bail?"  
"Brain's honor." He said putting his hand on his chest.

They walked slowly and quietly, content to listen to the chirping of the local bug type Pokemon before Noland said "He's certainly grown a lot."  
Anabel snapped out of her daze made by the silence "Who, Ash?"

Noland grinned "Who else?" He put a comforting hand on her shoulder "You've done an awesome job little sis."  
At this Anabel couldn't help but smile. "Thank you…. But I still want answers."

"Ah right right." Noland grinned sheepishly again. "Well Obviously Scott wanted the 411 on you guys and see your progress. I plan on reporting to him tomorrow. And obviously…" He paused before sighing "To see if Ash was ready to take his final exam."

"To befriend and capture and legendary Pokemon."

"Exactly." Noland went on. "And judging by Ash's reaction I assume he has encountered his fair share of legendaries."

"And also judging how he is acting now, I can assume that he has had a first hand experience of the misuse of a legendary Pokemon's power." Anabel added on. "Which is why he is very unsure if he wants to do this, despite of being more than capable."

"Espe."  
"Rairr."  
"Arrrr."  
The three Pokemon behind the human's agreed.

Noland turned to Anabel with a inquisitive look to his eyes. "So do you have a plan to help him change?"

Anabel looked away in disappointment. Disappointment in herself.

"For once… No."

Noland looked sympathetic. "Then I guess we'll have to do this the Ash Ketchum way then." He winked at Anabel. "We believe and wing it!"

* * *

"Pika."

"Pika!"

"PIKA!"

Ash stopped his musings to look at Pikachu sitting on his knees. The electric type was rather put out that his trainer has been so quiet lately and has been trying to find someway to get Ash moving again.  
Pikachu knew easily that Ash was worried about the legendary factor, and he knew why Ash was worried about, because Pikachu there himself had been at all those rouge legendaries events. Yet still, to Pikachu's mind that shouldn't be a reason to be so…solum.

Ash smiled at Pikachu knowing that his buddy was trying to help. "Sorry Pikachu but this is something I gotta decided on my own." The trainer sighed letting his legs hang off the tree. "Don't let me stop ya." Ash smiled. "Go and have some fun, looks like they would like to play with you." To Pikachu's surprise there was Jed's Spinda and Anabel's Absol. Both were looked up to Pikachu expectingly. A quick nod of approval from his Trainer, Pikachu lept off the tree to go play.

Ash watched as the three wondered off somewhere in the meadows before he let himself go back to his musings. "Man, this tanks." He did a smile that was more akin to a grimace. "You would think that learning to become a Frontier Brain would require more battling than thinking but…" He stayed quiet for a while.

How could he, a simple trainer, go out to handle a Legendary Pokemon? Ash, though with good amount of decent skill, wasn't anything special. He was just an average kid who just hung around with his Pokemon. Never had this thought of capturing a legendary ever crossed his mind. Truly this shook him down to his spine of commanding the power. He was just a kid right?

_'But I'm not a kid anymore.' _ Our hero looked down to his hands, realizing just how much more calloused and larger than they were a few months ago.

_'Everything was changing.'_ Ash thought to himself. _'Including me.'_ He realized that he was no longer the same boy who first came here in the back of Staraptor. He was older, taller and much more… stronger? _'In what?'_ He asked himself.

In his battles, in thinking, in communicating with his Pokemon? What had truly radically changed?  
_Anabel  
_The thought came to him, causing our hero's checks to rise to a red tint.

Yes that had drastically changed him in how he viewed …girls. And… people in general. It was a lot easier to just see people and just chat and relate to them. He didn't have to be best friends with a person in order to get to know them or cheer them up, a quick good morning would suffice. Seeing trainers in the Battle Tower wave back and laugh before they challenged other trainers really made a large difference for them. Anabel helped him with that and his Pokemon.

_'What else had changed?'_ Ash thought again.

_'Everything? No… I still want to fulfill my dream of becoming the greatest Pokemon Master._' He gazed outward. _'Its just that the path is changing.'_ So many elements and variables that popped up in his life. Even the meaning of being a Pokemon Master had changed. It wasn't simply of having the most Pokemon or having the strongest. So what was a Pokemon master?

"Yo, hotshot what's the weather up there like?" A voice came from below.

It was Jed. The Aura Philosopher looked like he just came from a walk, his jacket and hat were missing. Probably inside his satchel he was carrying, it was a hot day after all.

"Hey.." Ash said caught surprise. "What are you doing here?"  
Jed smiled. "Just walking. But hey want to do some training?"  
"Haven't we done this yesterday?" Ash asked gruffly.

Jed smirked. "Don't disobey sensei." The elder teen laughed at Ash's miffed face.

The two boys walked to their normal training area, there were a few stray bug and flying Pokemon here and there but none where really in the way.

"Alright…. So basic controlling techniques?" Ash asked flexing his hands getting his aura pumped. Jed had been drilling techniques about how to properly control and maintain aura for extended amount of times. But it was all-so boring!

So it surprised Ash to hear Jed say no.

"What do you mean?" He asked very curious now.

Jed sighed before clapping his hands. "Today, we learn Aura Sphere."

Ash nearly lept in excitement. "Really? No joke?"

The aura Philosopher nodded. "No joke."

This is the cool stuff Ash had been waiting for since he met Jed. Finally they would learn all sorts of techniques and moves about aura! How awesome would it be to be like Riley!

Ash was so excited that he didn't catch the sadden glance that Jed cast towards the trainer.

"Where do we begin?" Our hero asked barely able to stand still now.

Jed quickly smiled. "Alright get into stance." Jed bent his knees slightly, one foot slightly behind the other with both elbows tucked in. Ash did the same. This was the stance that is the easiest for beginners to start controlling their aura. If Ash remember right Jed said it was something about nerve endings and open passages ways and things like that. Obviously our hero wasn't listening to intently to that lecture.

But this time his ears were all too eager to hear.

Jed demonstrated right in front of him. "Alright…. Focus as usual but this time circulate it through your arms mostly."

Jed had several more steps but his mind went numb seeing Ash already forming the aura sphere and allowed it to grow perfect size. The white haired man observed it looking for any flaws; any wavering aura, too small, too large, unfocused core…. no…. it was indeed perfect.

Ash grinned with glee. "Wow Jed I got it!" He held it up closer to his face to inspect his handy work. "This is really cool."

"Can you disperse it?"

"Sure can." Ash stopped the flow easily and the aura sphere faded into nonexistence. "What can we learn next?" Ash asked looking up to the philosopher expectantly.

At first it looked like Jed was going to say something when opening his mouth, but silent for a while. Then he smiled a bit… sadly. "Nothing." Jed said flopping his arms down on his side.

Ash was obviously confused. "What do you mean by that? I mean you said there are lot of uses to shape aura and how to… increase skills and stuff…" Ash looked disappointed. "I don't... get it."

Jed couldn't help but show a rueful smile. "That's because…. you don't need me anymore." Ash looked at him for an explanation. "Ash….. You are more gifted than you realize. Did you know it takes at least one and a half months for a normal student to just gain a aura sphere with constant practice and instruction? He said with his eyes drooping. " Easily you would be able to the rest of your powers on your own. I would slow you down."

Ash looked at Jed in disbelief. How on earth would Jed, his teacher, slow him down? All this training had open brand-new pathways, that our hero hadn't even considered. He can anticipate when Pokemon are going to move easier, his sense have heightened that he can sense a storm coming before a cloud appears in the sky! "Why?… Why the crap do you think you'll slow me down?" Ash asked somewhat angrily. His gaze was hard against Jed's green eyes.

Jed didn't answer strait away. "Because….. I'm… jealous."

"I don't…. understand…" Ash mummered shocked that Jed would feel this way.

Jed grinned or grimaced, it was hard to tell. "Because…. here you are… my student… with the strongest aura I've ever seen… mastering techniques only after nearly two months of training and" He pointed his thumb at himself. "Here am I, who has been training with aura all my life, and it took me… three months to master aura sphere by training every day."

Jed walked up to Ash shaking his head in distress. "I was born with the weakest aura on my island in the past fifty years Ash. I won't be able to keep up with you." Jed told him honestly.

"You know what Jed? Ash's eyes were covered by his hair and his voice fairly emotionless. Jed looked a bit started by Ash's sudden change of mood.

However when Ash looked up his eyes were full of confidence. "It doesn't matter if your aura is weak and it doesn't matter if my aura is strong. What matters is that you taught me, and you were awesome at it!" He gave Jed a thumbs up. "You taught be a lot and you had confidence in me enough to go through it!" He laughed. "Not everyone can put up with me and my density all the time."

A smile turned into a smirk. "Thanks… Ash." Jed said. The two boys shook hands as both student and master and as friends.  
Ash sense another intent though. "There is another reason you have to go isn't there?" He watched the aura philosopher sigh and nod his head.  
"Yes. I have things to do and places to be." Jed smiled putting on his hat. "I'm a trainer after all." He said with a wink. Ash understood. The call to keep moving throughout the world. It was one all people heard once in their life.

Jed spoked again. "And its time I head back home."

"Oh to Merry Isle right?" Jed nodded. "Well then I'll stop by over sometime! I want to see it!" Ash said cheerily. Jed looked a bit surprised by this but then smiled in good grace.

"Alright. Hope I see you there someday."

Ash smiled back. "Hey Jed. Thanks." It wasn't farewell or goodbye, they would see each other sometime.

"See ya later Ash. And good luck!"

Then Ash suddenly remembered something real quick and caught the aura philosopher by the shoulder. Jed turned around in confusion. "Hey there is one more thing I want to ask you about?"

Jed turned around curious. "What is it?"

Ash looked serious. "What do you think of Legendaries?"

This was a vague question, any normal person would ask this question as a simple opinion poll.  
Jed however knew what was up, he knew all about the Battle Brains "final test".

So he chose his words carefully. "Well… They are Pokemon are they not?" Obviously Ash didn't know what Jed meant by this but nodded anyway. "So" he said carrying on. "what's the difference between the legendaries and our Pokemon?"

"Well ah.. there more powerful and they control a lot of stuff… and" Ash tripped over his words.

"Pika!"

"Spinda!"

Both boys partner pokemon came running up to them. Pikachu perched himself on Ash's shoulders while Spinda flopped on Jed's head. "So how is that any different from a little panda shooting aura from his paws" Jed petted Spinda. "or" He added leaning over to pet Pikachu on his cheeks who squealed with delight. "a small little mouse shooting lighting from his cheeks?"

He saw that his student was finally getting his point. "Everyone needs a friend right? And if no one becomes their friend and show them good then all they will see in others is evil."

The little blue panda on his head nodded in agreement. "Spin Spinda!"

"Everyone needs a friend…" Ash repeated. Pikachu crossed his arms acknowledging the wise words said. "Piii…" Finally Ash smiled getting the meaning. "Thanks Jed." He called out to him. "Oh and come visit me when we open up my battle facility!"

His friend grinned back. "No prob Ash." With a two finger salute he was off waving back towards his newly made friends who waved back.

Finally when the aura philosopher was no longer visible on the dirt path Ash looked at Pikachu with determination in his eyes.

"I know what to do."

* * *

By mid afternoon Anabel was attending Gyarados. This involved from scrubbing his scales to just simply talking to the great beast. It was the easiest way of getting to know someone, and while she did this, the Salon Maiden casually talked to him about Ash. And though the great beast was wise in his own way, Gyarados still hadn't gotten out much of the tojho falls. Still Anabel appreciated this and told her newly acquired water type that she would take him on a adventure if he wishes. Jed had come to say goodbye to her abruptly though promised he would visit her again. When she asked about Ash's aura lesson she got the cryptic reply of "He has you." Anabel from previous experience knew this was Jed's way of telling her to not worry. So she wouldn't.

Anabel went to Entie and Raikou for advice, they only had a little more to offer. They said they could understand Ash reasoning of being reluctant to take on the destiny of being a legendary trainer. It is a great burden to represent humanity to a legendary like the previous Frontier Brains.

And yet she was surprised to see Ash with Pikachu having a blast of a time helping the fellow sailors and port hands on the docks at Cobalt Port. The duo waved at her with bright smile on their faces; Ash still was in that black shirt and raggedy jeans that he borrowed from Maron.

He ran over to her and with out much hesitation hugged her… in public no less!.

"Uh… Ash?" She was blushing and if not a little confused. When they came apart Anabel wanted to know what was up.

Ash just smiled and said in his triumphant voice. "I solved it of course!"

"Pika Pika!" The electric mouse pokemon agreed pumping his little fist up.

A elegant purple eyebrow rose. "Solved what?" His infectious happy attitude and hug had slow downed her normally processing brain.

Ash looked around to make sure none of the workers would over hear them. "About the legendaries of course." He whispered seriously.

"Oh." She was really slow today. When she realized what he really said her head snapped to attention. "What do you mean? I thought you were overwhelmed by" she made a gesture to emphasize her point "all of this."

Ash scratched his head a bit sheepishly. "Yeah well, I talked with Jed. And he ironed out a few things. Now all I need to do is just…" He emphasized. "Clear my mind." He pointed to a ship that was docked. "Working seemed like a good idea, besides the Sailors offered a free lunch that was pretty good."

Anabel smiled gently, glad that Ash was fitting in.

"Do you think Pallet Town will be a bit like this when I start bringing in Battle Participants?" Ash asked curiously. Both his and Pikachu's head were tilted just a bit sideways making it a very cute like fashion.

Anabel thought about it a second. She never really considered what the impact of The Battle Frontier in little Pallet Town. Ever since she arrived at Cobalt Port the visitors and tourism have gone up making the sea fairing town highly prosperous."I guess." She finally said. "It depends on who you bring. What sort of attractions you have their?"

Ash scratched his head in embarrassment thinking about his town. "Uh…. not much. Their's Professor Oak's Lab…. but thats about it." He turned away blushing shyly. "I guess you could call the town a country sort of place… which would make me a bit of a country boy."

Anabel laughed. "Hey that's alright. Maybe you'll make a difference or maybe you won't. Just so long as the community supports you then it should be fine."

Ash thought about when he first became a trainer and all those who who showed up were only his mom and her friends. But then again it was only a year and a few months after that he was given the nickname 'The Pride of Pallet Town."

"Pika chu." The electric type agreed with Anabel, knowing that support is all that Ash needed to help him get settled in his new position.

Ash grinned in his usual confident way. Giving a thumbs up. "Yeah your right!" He was back to his old self. "But now what do I do?" He asked.

It was obvious he was referring to his last test of the Legendaries. Though he was a bit better on the concept some extra help would be nice.

"I would say… talk to Noland. That is the main reason he came here after all." She beckoned towards her cottage where he might be.

Ash thought about this thinking it was strange for his mentor to tell him to go someone else. "Why him?"

She gently shoved him forward in that direction. "Because it would be good for you to get more acquainted with the other Brains." He caught a gleam in her eyes. "Besides I want to visit Raikou and Entie some more if you don't mind." Our hero had a funny feeling that she was leaving something awesome out.

* * *

Noland caught sight of Ash and Pikachu and raised his glass to them. "Hey Ash and Pikachu how bought some sitrus berry juice?"

"Pika!" The starter rushed to grab a small glass from Noland. Ash followed lead. "Sure!" Drinking the juice with gutso.

It was now mid afternoon and very hot and humid though not to the point it previously was; most pokemon had taken to shade in order to avoid the harsh sun beams Ash and Noland have been doing their labor. Ash felt somewhat close to Noland even after all the time apart. During the initiation, Noland's more kid like attitude made it easier for the two to talk. Chatting with the Battle Factory head felt more like talking to someone his own age, especially when it came to Pokemon.

"So Anabel tells me your here to see if I'm ready." Ash said casually sitting down. His tone was neither happy nor angry, mearly curious.

Noland laughed a little. "Yep! She tells the truth…. You okay with that kid?"

Our hero paused in reflection. Pikachu had found a digit to play tag with leaving the sitrus berry juice forgotten. The Pokemon playing together was very innocent, it was easy to forget the power they held.

"So am I ready?"

Noland thought for a while. "Well if you asked me earlier today… I've would've said no." When Ash shot him a glare the elder man put his hands up defensively. "Hey hey! You were the one mopping around. And it really appeared to me and Anabel that you would not be up to the task!"

"Yeah your right I was." Ash huffed. "But now-" He turned to Noland. "I feel like I understand what your doing now. Why you guys do it…"

Noland quickly observed the boy. "Okay…. Now I say your ready for the test-"

Ash smirked. "But there's more to it, isn't there?"

Noland congratulated Ash with a throat spewing thud on his back. "Your catching on!" Ash spit out his sitrus berry juice , coughing nearly chocking on it.

Despite of this Noland kept talking. "During this week the skuntank hits the fan!"

"Why-" Ash kept coughing.

"Me and Anabel are going to train you and your Pokemon like no other for the rest of this week. By the time we're done with you, you'll be more than ready and more sore than you would have ever thought you could be!"

Ash felt his eye twitch when Noland said like this is was a good thing.

Pikachu had walked over with the digit, both covered in dirt and grass. Seeing his trainer in such an odd state and Noland looking like he had a birthday, electric type couldn't help but wonder what had happen.

* * *

Seven Days later…. all the way in Cerulean City.

"Common DAWN! WE NEED TO GO!" Barry yelled at the young girl who rather would pay attention to the products of a berry powder stand than Barry.

"Give me a minute!" Dawn snapped at her friend. She turned back to the elder man who she was currently bargaining with. "Now what did you say about what this berry would do?

The man with a burly mustache happily continued to swindle the young lady to buy his products. "Why this one, dear lady, would help make a vitamin that would increase your Pokemon's-"

"BARRY! Put me down!"

"DAWN WE'RE GOING NOW!" Barry dragged his friend away kicking and screaming away. The girl huffed in irritation knowing Barry was right that they had to get going. They had to reach Vermillion City in the next few weeks for a Conference for Dawn and a Gym battle for Barry right after not counting the fact that Berry wanted to challenge the Gym leader in Cerulean City first. This was going to be his first Gym Battle in Kanto and needless to say the blond trainer was more than impatient.

"THERE IT IS!" Barry yelled to Dawn who he was still dragging behind. They both looked at the Gym seeing it was obviously a water-type gym leader. The building was covered in sea-shells and coral while showing off water-types on 3-D plaster across the building.

This only served to further hype up Barry. "YES! I'm finally here! Gonna become the Kanto Champion in no time! Right Dawn?" He turned to his friend.

She was still brushing off the dirt from her pink skirt and no less brushed him off. "Sure whatever…".

This had a dramatic affect on the boy's ego.

"Aw Dawn! Where's your spirit?" Barry complained.

A Poke'ball light showed and Piplup tried to put in his own two cents.

"Pip pip!" The penguine pokemon started to scold Barry.

"Geeze! Everyone hates Barry." He put his hands up in defense.

Dawn seemed satisfied by this, scooping up her water starter and headed off to the Gym. "Now we can go on." Barry trudged behind her with tears.

Inside was not too different from the outside, however it was very noticeable that most of the water type Pokemon on depicted were majority of Kanto's and appeared only a very Johto Pokemon on here was well.

"So why this gym looks like its trying to submerge itself into the sea?" Dawn asked out loud.

Barry turned to her like she was stupid. "Well duh! That's because the gym-leader here is a water-type user! Sheesh Dawn get with the program!"

Dawn couldn't help but role her eyes. She didn't get Pokemon Trainers sometimes with their constant need to battle. Sure Coordinators battled each other, but it was just one more way to show off your Pokemon. She decided to humor him and drive him a bit more crazy.

"But don't you mainly use a water-type yourself? How will Empoleon even help?"

Barry immediately turn to her in rage. "ISN'T OBVIOUS?!" He screamed and it echoed louder through the empty halls of the gym. "He is also a steel-type! Who ever owns this joint is never going suspect my completely unorthodox method to underhand his technique!"

He was absorbed in his own sure to come victory he failed to see his friend and her Pokemon dead pan in lameness.

"Sure whatever."

"Pip pip."

They came around the corner with Barry further yelling out triumph he had not yet completed. "Yeah! I'm TOTALLY going to kick his-"

"Whose he?"

Barry stopped in mid-sentence as a hot older girl showed up from the gym doors where nothing but a swimsuit and a jacket She was dripping wet from what looked like a recent swim. The young man had his jaw dropped in what he thought was a really smoking looking woman he did indeed look like a total idiot and couldn't utter a single word.

Luckily for him Dawn was already on the rescue to save his behind from totally humiliation in front of the Gym Leader. "Hi there! My name is Dawn and this here is my friend named Barry. Nice to meet you… ummm?"

"Misty." The ginger said cheerily. (A/N: **She's wearing her heart gold and soul silver outfit**). She shook hands with Dawn. "I assume your friend over there wishes to challenge me."

"Yep. That's correct! Right Barry?"

Barry was still unconsciously drooling. "Uuuuhhhhh…."

Misty smiled a bit sadly. "Well.. I'm sorry to say this but the Kanto League right now is closed."

This snapped Barry out of his comatose state. "WWHHAAATTTT!?"

Both girls cringed at the volume.

"Your not from around here are you? All of Kanto is notified when the Kanto League is inactive. We won't start again until three more months" She smiled a bit. "Why do you think the gym is so quiet?"

Barry stuttered trying to find a good reason, but frankly the truth was that he simply didn't notice. Than again how can you notice other noises when your voice is the loudest?

Poor Barry slumped his shoulders in defeat. So quiet was he you would't think it was the same guy.

Dawn tried to cheer him up. "Hey no need to worry!" She said patting him in comfort. "We always have things to do! I'm sure some unofficial gym would be happy to battle you."

"Well the Orange, Johto and Hoenn league are open. But hey since you came so far, how about I treat you to lunch?" Misty felt sorry for poor kid, he remind her of another certain hot-blooded trainer that she was friends with.

* * *

Misty got dressed the the three headed down to the Pokemon center.

Barry wolfed down his lunch while Misty and Dawn talked normally both having a talent to ignore another similar attitude with another boy.

"So where are you from?" Misty started off right away. "I mean you obviously not from here." She looked at Piplup. "I've never seen that Pokemon before. What type is it?"

Piplup squirmed in happiness at the attention.

"Oh this is Piplup my starter. He's a water type." She said proudly.

Misty's eyes brightened.

"Oh wow! That is so cool! Where is he from?"

"We come from a bit aways. Its a region called Sinnoh." Dawn said. "We just came to Kanto."

"Sinnoh?"Misty recalled hearing the word about a year ago. "Oh I had a friend who challenged the league."

"Who was that?" Barry said with his mouth stuffed with food. "He probably wasn't that strong if I've never heard of him."

Misty have mischievous wink. "Now I wouldn't say that. He's sort of a local celebrity around here. So far he's been in a lot of regions laughs and several times almost made it to the top."

For once Barry considered. "What's his name, maybe I battled the punk once." He manage to say after swallowing a whole thing of pumpkin seed bread.

"His name is Ash Ketchum."

There was a silence in the air right after she said that. Dawn and Piplup had the same exact shocked looked on their face while Barry had all of his jaw hanging down all the way open.

Misty was more or less confused. "What?"

"WE KNOW HIM!"

"PIP PIPLUP!"

The two humans and pokemon yelled simultaneously. So loud where they that Misty wasn't sure she heard right.

"What was that you said? I swear I just heard the name-"

"ASH KETCHUM!" Barry interrupted her yelling. "IT FIGURES HE WOULDN'T TELL ME OF THIS BEAUTIFUL GIRL THAT JERK! ERRRRR WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON HIM! IT-" "Piplup!" "ooff" Barry was temporarily knocked unconscious by Piplup who both he and Dawn where embarrassed by his out burst.

She quickly turned to Misty to explain. "Yeah I met Ash when I first started out was a coordinator. So yeah I traveled with him and there we met with my old friend Barry who really likes to battle Ash."

"Oh." It dawned (no pun intended) to Misty that Ash had gone on this whole entire adventure with this girl. In a whole new place that Misty didn't really know about. Sure she heard from Professor Oak and the occasional Gary of the brand new Pokemon existing in Sinnoh but until now it never really hit her that Ash had made a lot of other friends there. "I guess you guys had a fun time then. Despite of being dense he certainly has a magnetic personality right?"

"Oh I know right? He makes friends with every person and Pokemon crossed our way. Even Barry here who wanted to dislike Ash eventually soften up!"

Misty started at Barry with indifference. "Let me guess, a rival then?"

Barry, who was now suddenly conscious, lept to his feet. "Yeah I'm his Arch Rival! Me and Ash had faced of multiple times and faced against my superior Pokemon he-"

"Ash beat Barry." Dawn said.

"Lup pip." Piplup nodded in confirmation.

Barry deflated like a balloon, leaving a trial of gloom behind him.

Dawn was ignorant of this and continued to unintentionally rub salt in his wounds. "Yeah, he didn't even get to face Ash in the finals."

"Wait wait hold on a second." Something had just occurred to Misty that had been very obscure until now. "The Sinnoh league is over?"

"Uh yeah.." Dawn was unsure.

"Uh-hu… and just how long ago did it end?"

Barry turned from his gloom still defeated. "Way over two months by now."

Boiling hot rage washed over Misty, the trainers backed up in fear.

"**ASH KETCHUM!**" She yelled even louder than Barry! "**YOUR GOING TO PAY FOR NOT LETTING ME KNOW YOUR HERE YOU JERK!**"

Dawn and Barry cowered together wishing to know how on earth Ash evoked the wrath of this very menacing girl.

* * *

At the same time…. in Torjan falls

"ACHOO!…ooowww." Ash laid sprawled on the ground his limbs aching from Noland's and Anabel's signature '_Training Initiates for the Battle of Their Lives Exercise Program!'_, affectionately called TIBOT-LEP(_Pronounced _Tea-bot-leap) _, for the soul reason that the acronym was completely useless. Ash had grew to quickly hate that word. As it involved all of Ash's under leveled Pokemon to face very higher level Pokemon and his high level Pokemon against MANY high leveled Pokemon.

He, his Pokemon have all been throughly wrung out of all their strength, energy, and willpower to continue any further. It had been seven days of pure…

…

Ash didn't think he was allowed to say that word but you know what he means!

All his Pokemon have a similar position to him laying on grass, rocks or whatever, not moving and faintly breathing. You would think this was a graveyard besides the occasional moans and agonizing breaths uttered by the residents. Pikachu was right next to him already passed out with a few stay sparks loosely coming out.

Ash glared his blue eye at two silhouettes against the sun standing above him. With all his strength he uttered "Am I ready?"

Anabel turned to Noland with a smile on her face. She was covered in dirt and bruises just like her companion yet not nearly as bad as Ash. "Yep. Your defiantly ready!"

Ash heaved a sigh of relief. "Great." And then like his partner, he passed out.

End of Chapter 19

* * *

**One more thing, this chapter decides the fate of Jed. Like him or hate him I will put up a poll deciding his fate.  
If he is just wanted Jed wil play a less of a role, just minor support and you'll see Merry Island.  
If he is not wanted then Jed will disappear here forever and you will not see him in any future story concerning Pokemon.**

**However the third option includes Jed not only being having a small role in FOStA but his own small (SEPARATE) story involving his time being a Aura Philosopher and what it is like to live in a aura Community.  
This would include a quest involving Secrete Base who is a villain from the Pokemon Manga (however his secret identity would be different).**

**Or the fourth option where Jed will disappear from FOStA yet have a story.**

**You guys decided.**

**One again thank you for everything.**


	20. Legends Among Us: Part II

**Alright!**

**I think this will be around a four to five part chapter for this small arc in the story about Ash trying to find a legendary and his friends getting together.**

**However there is the main reason why I am writing this whole arc:**

**Does any fan fiction really address what it means to be a Pokemon Master? **

**What I mean is, what is the significance, what does it do, what does it show?**

**What I intend to do here is for Ash to realize what that is, though this does not mean he is one right then and there, just a clearer image of his goal. Though this will not be evident in this chapter.**

**Also I now have a DeviantArt account which I will post how I image the characters form my stories. And as you will see here, I will depict Ash and his new outfit from now on. I will do nearly every character from this story and 'The Love of Many' my MegaMan fic.**

**While I will draw them MY style I may attempt to draw them the anime style as well. I will try. Anabel is up next.**

**I am not a very good artist however I am not a complete noob either.**

**Enjoy the story.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 20

Legends Among Us: Part II

"Deli Delibird!" Noland was the first spot the delivery Pokemon and gave Ash and Anabel the heads up.  
Anabel narrowed her eyes. "Must be Tucker's. I wonder what he wants?"

The delibird landed right in front of Ash and Pikachu and presented to them a large brown package. "Deli Deli!" He pushed it forward for the human to take it.

The trainer took it warily. It wasn't that he didn't like Tucker however Ash was not too keen on being a living dress up doll.  
He turned for an opinion from his ...'girlfriend' (it was still weird to say) but Anabel was too busy petting the Delibird telling him he did a good job. With a quick little salute, the Ice flying type took off to the skies with his job done.

"Well open it!" Noland said happily. "Tucker just doesn't give out presents to anyone."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Ash mummered quickly, only Pikachu heard.  
"Pi..." His ears flopped down.

Ash quickly did open the box and was surprised to imediantly see what was on a stack of clothing, a bright red cap. Gingerly he lifted it up to observe it. It was the same traditional red he always wore yet instead of the Pokemon league symbol it contained the battle frontier symbol! A small letter came out underneath it.

"Oh wow Ash." Anabel said looking at the hat from behind him.  
Opening the letter Ash grinned broadly at the contents.

_Hi Ash,  
This is your mother here! Anyway I heard from Scott your final test is coming up, and as your mother I had the right to know what that is. I know it will be tough for you and you too Pikachu but I believe you boys to be both strong. You've come such a far way in such a short time.  
But I know as you do that you wouldn't do as well without the appropriate attire especially without a hat. So I whipped you up a pair to represent your growth and asked Scott to take it to you.  
I hope you enjoy them!_

_Love Mom._

_P.S. Anabel, you take care of my Ashy boy while you're on his journey. Make sure he doesn't do anything reckless. As you know by now he has a knack for getting into trouble._

Behind him Anabel smiled at the note Delia had left for her. She also saw Ash's eyes widen at the last part then shifted to her as if to say _'don't say anything to Noland'_. And in good grace Anabel kept quiet for his sake.

"Wow some new duds eh? Perfect timing." Noland said checking the contents. He handed them back to Ash. "If I were you I would put them on soon. We leave tomorrow for Vermillion City."

"That and you need to pick out a team of your choice to help you." Anabel added. "Now that all your Pokemon are pretty well set, I suggest going for an angle of versatility."

Ash nodded seriously. Yet Pikachu bugged him, pointing to the new cloths to encourage his trainer to try them on. Pikachu knew that Ash had been bummed out since he lost his old cloths, so having the hat would defiantly improve overall moral.

Ash instantly understood. "Yeah your right. Hey Anabel I'm going to be a while."

Anabel smiled. "Take your time Ash. You have all day after all. I know you'll do you best."

It was a simple encouragement yet Ash felt a small about of heat rise to his cheeks. This time a small smile came across. He was growing use to this type of thing and he was slowly growing to really really like it. He guess it was just simply adapting to a relationship.

Pikachu lead Ash to the cottage all the way up to his room. And in less than one minute Ash really did look like he was ready to become a Battle Brain.

With his red cap having the battle frontier symbol in front of it, he also had a black shirt with three red triangles pointing to the center, a blue sleeveless jacket with a Poke'ball on it. Blue and red fingerless gloves, dark jeans and red shoes, Ash felt like he was about to head on a brand new journey!

"Pi Pika pi." The electric type voiced his approval over the new duds.

And Ash gave a big feral grin towards Pikachu now fully rearing up to go out for the battle of his life. Already he could feel his blood just rushing at the thought of the challenge and to prove his worth.

"Pika!" The mouse Pokemon jumped on Ash's shoulder running out the doors excited to pick out the ultimate team for the Legendary Battle.

His team were already lined up to be hand picked by their trainer and friend. And by passing each one and observing their abilities a flood of memories to how he met each of them.

Bulbasaur, the brave grass-type who protected other Pokemon from abusive humans. Ash had met him four years ago back when he was still very very naive about the world.  
Kingler the water-type, though not used much, Kingler had proven more than enough times to make up for it, showing that bonds can transcend distance.  
Muk the Poisen type, who Ash despite of his inexperience, taught kindness and friendship, and Muk had shown his dedication since then.  
Bayleef the Grass type who started out as a chikorita and was still as feisty.  
Quilava, the fire-type who was a little cyndaquil with a fire problem; not only fixing it but improving his power further by evolving on his own will.  
Taurous, the normal type, who any he called upon served their trainer faithfully.  
Snorlax, who was also a normal type, who Ash used his nature to be an asset to battle rather than a hindrance most trainers would assume.  
Heracross, the bug and fighting type, who had a strong affinity for sap and sweets.  
Totdile, the water type, who was fun loving and energetic.  
Noctowl, his Johto flying type, who served him well in the league and against special attacking foes.  
Donphan, the ground type, who he raised from a baby, teaching Ash responsibility at a young age that he needed to learn.  
Swellow, the Hoenn flying type, with determination to fly not only through the league but to the Battle Frontier.  
Sceptile, the grass type, from a treeko became the main powerhouse throughout over a year.  
Corphish, the rascal water type, he brought smiles to everyone's face.  
Torkoul, the fire type, who had a heart of gold.  
Glalie, the ice type, who was a bit like Ash as a Snowrunt, like Quilava overcame his own problems and grew more powerful as well.  
Staraptor, the Sinnoh flying type, the first partner he had in the new region and show vigor time and time again.  
Torterra, the grass ground type, as Turtwig encouraged his trainer despite of the fallings.  
Infernape, the fire fighting type, despite of a more traumatic past, opened his heart to Ash.  
Buizel, the water type, as passionate for battle as Ash was.  
And Gabite, the Dragon ground type, that despite of shortcomings and young age showed support in the tough times, especially in the battle with Darkrai.

And Ash thought back to some of the Pokemon he does not have with him, Gliscor, Primape, Butterfree, Squirtile, Charizard and Pridgeot.

But as a trainer he had perfected all of his team.

Ash didn't know how to choose at first, but after what these two months have taught him is to follow his heart, his brain and especially his instincts

And so from all these great warriors he had to pick six.

Pikachu, was obviously the first, his starter is not only powerful but had the experience of dealing with all the legendaries Ash himself had dealt with.

Next was Bulbasaur, Ash needed another veteran in his team. Bulbasaur would offer status and physical attacks. And the fact that Bulbasaur battled with Brandon helps reaffirms Ash's beliefs that he will aid in the Legendary battle.

Snorlax would offer some advantage as well. All legendaries are powerful, Snorlax sheer power would counter this and being a normal type, won't be open to most attacks.

Ash's other choice was a bit strange. Glalie. It was a strong urge in his gut that he should bring his ice type with him to… wherever he was going.

Ash chose Gabite for the same reason. It was a wild feeling inside of him that was so strong it sounded like thunder to his mind.

As for the last one was hard decision. All his Pokemon equal in strength but he felt something missing, a hole in his heart. And of course like any good trainer, he voiced his concerns with his Pokemon.

"What do you guys think?" He said sitting down in front of them. Everyone looked at each other for an answer however non came up. They were just as concerned as their trainer and could feel the missing link in the team. It was so strong, the others knew that not one of them could fill the position otherwise the team would be unbalanced.

"Maybe I should reorganize my team…" Ash muttered to himself.

"Scep scept…" Sceptile shook his head. He knew that there would always be a missing link. Besides if Ash felt like he needed this team to begin with then they should stick to it.

"Swellow." The Flying type agreed. This was going to be a legendary battle. They would need to have a versatile range in order to combat what ever come their way.

The Pokemon began to talk amount themselves to see how they could fix this commodity. This made it hard to concentrate for Ash. And when he was going to tell them to be quiet, all went still.

Ash felt a strong presence in their midst. The Pokemon found themselves unable to speak while Ash himself felt himself unable to think, to only act.

And above in the sky, gleaming down like a beacon was a rainbow. And at the end of the Rainbow was Ho-Oh. All their eyes widen at the gleam of bright colors that showed across the sky and Ash began to stand.

Pikachu was the first to speak. "Pi… ka chu? Pikapi?" It was as clear as day to Ash what the electric type was asking.

_'Is he the one you need?'_

Yet Ash shook his head in a no. Ho-Oh wouldn't be his legendary now, that pokemon was far out of his reach still. Ho-Oh to Ash was something special, but somehow our hero knew that if he went after Oh-Ho now then he would never reach his goal, he would be consumed by the fire of need just like…. like-

_'Not now.'_ Ash tucked the unpleasant memory. However, even though he could not attain Ho-Oh there was still a connection and he knew that his was a sign.

Our hero was unaware of his feet moving until the trees and grass where starting to blur as he broke out in a run. His Pokemon were close behind him feeling the need to follow their trainer.

Out of the forest and on the main road, an odd sight; a teenage boy running with a hoard of Pokemon behind him. But they had to keep on moving, they had to stay in sight of the great bird and the rainbow. Something was calling them to answer them.

Others saw the sign too.

The Frontier Brains, a man and a girl stared at the rainbow and both knew that it wouldn't be until tomorrow until they saw the boy again.

The Aura Philosopher saw it two, though he had to look, to spy on the boy that followed. And signed at the knowledge just gained.

Ash had never felt so free. All his muscles working together to propel him only forward and never back, never guessing. He felt his Pokemon, his teammates, his friends, flying, running, swimming behind him feeling the need, the wild instinct to run and to follow.

Our hero has always liked nature more than the cities, being raised in a very small town. In the wild and especially as he grew older and more sufficient, it was a lot more easier to lay down in the grass than go and bother to find a Poke'center. He loved walk thing through the woods and climbing up trees. He felt so much more at home than anywhere else among the wild.

It was similar to a battle, blood rushing and your body working, however this was calmer, smoother and gave him time to relax his spirit as he had stopped thinking and let his eyes keep up to the rainbow in the sky.

They went past the Tohjo falls, through the wet caves and desperate to get into the sunlight to see the legendary again and not lose sight. They ran for miles and for hours until the sun was almost over the horizon. And the rainbow grew dimmer and dimmer as to show the short journey was near its end, for now. And as it got dimmer, the fatigue came more and more evident to the group. They slowed down until finally Ho-Oh had disappeared in the setting sun and Ash and his Pokemon sat down in order to rest and do all they could from fainting over.

Ash was very thankful for his new hat and cloths today, they were made of very light material and allowed him to cool off a lot easier than anything else. Sweat trickled down his brow as his brain started to function again. It took several minutes to get a clear look at their surroundings.

Obviously they weren't in Kanto; there were far to many tress and the grass was much more wild.

_'Johto'_ He instantly knew despite of how many years since he's been here. But the impact of going to a new region was still fresh in his mind.

_'How did we run this far?'_ He couldn't answer his thoughts were still to hazy. Slowly he and his team started to get up. The flying types taking the longest.

Everyone was quiet except for the forest where the wild Pokemon began their songs for the night. A small growl filled the air and everyone smiled seeing it was Swellow's stomach. It was clear that while they did not worry they were in a different region right now they had to find food in order to regain the energy needed to head back.

Brock's Survival lessons kicked in Ash's mind; analyzing the soil to see where the berries might grow. Snorlax was a huge help, sniffing around and pointing deeper in the forest for food.

Soon there was a small grove with a spring like waterfall in it with other Oran, Pecha, and dare I say, the elusive Enigma Berry, all in one place. The only problem was that the waterfall was clogged up by a spiraling mess of thorny vines.

This didn't bother Ash as he smiled at Snorlax who was already on his way to munch on one of his favorite meals. Soon Snorlax's massive belly was full and the water was flowing normally. The team took there own time between eating the berries and drinking the cool fresh spring water. The water felt great as it splashed against his face, clearing his mind of his exhaustion. Instantly he felt rejuvenated and aware but he had to wonder what was the purpose as to why Ho-Oh lead him here? What was in Johto?

Ash was very grateful that Tohjo falls were the gateway between the two regions. Munching on a Oran berry our hero tried to recall anything in Johto that might be of assist. He called his Johto Pokemon to him, Donphan, Totodile, Bayleef, Quilava, and Heracross to what they could remember anything that might have happened during there time with him.

He deadpanned seeing that Quilava was already asleep with a snot bubble, Heracross trying to get to Bulbasour bulb to find the sap, and Totodile rolling around in the small stream, completely ignoring their trainer.

Only Bayleef seemed to here him and instantly bellyflopped him and began to cuddle her face next to his. Ash grimaced when she did this; his soreness and sprained muscles not fully recovered since his intense training experience.

"Alright alright." Ash finally said once he had enough. Surprisingly he had the strength to gently push his Pokemon off him. He tried to the best of his ability to understand any of Bayleef's callbacks to the Johto region and their travels. Nothing in particular came to mind for the grass type, and she was just as clueless as her trainer to just what to do.

Ash signed more or less and seeing how it was getting darker, his pokemon instantly began to seek out some shelter for the night. Sceptile being a loner sought out a tree to lay on separate form everyone else yet keeping a watchful eye. His other pokemon were more than content curling up around each other underneath a rock covering. Ash somehow found himself in the middle squeezed between his team as they snuggle in closer to their dear trainer. And despite how uncomfortable with all the varying hides of his Pokemon Ash was comforted by the fact he new which texture belong to which Pokemon. Pikachu of course as the honorary starter got the to lay down snuggly on his chest. And it wasn't before long before the snores of Pokemon and one human where heard by the wild.

* * *

_Earlier today…._

"Wow your really determined to see Ash aren't you?" Barry was marveled at the fact that they have been traveling for a day now to see Ash in his home town with their new found friend (well in Dawns case this was, for Barry it was more of an infatuation) Misty.

"Yep!" She said trailing on the path to Pallet Town. While Cerulean City wasn't too far away from Pallet Town, it would take at least a week if not more to reach there simply my foot and on a solid path.

Right after Misty's declaration of vengeance against poor Ash Ketchum, the gym leader packed up and locked the gym doors in less then twenty minutes flat. You could practically see the steam coming out of her ears; that's how mad she was.

You see if you haven't seen a dear friend, who you may-or-may-not-have-a-thing-for, in at least well over a year would you not be mad too if your friend did that?

Misty had a perfectly rational reason to come and clobber Ash Ketchum for being a dense idiot and not being considerate at all. She would have a word with Tracy too.

"So I guess you met Ash when your bike got fried?"

Dawn was shocked that she deducted that so easily. "How… how did you know?

Misty couldn't help but smirk. "He did the same to me the first time we met."

Dawn looked amazed at the similarities between them and walked in silence thinking about this odd situation.

"So… ah… Misty!" Barry asked nervously trying his best not to sound like a loser or a jealous (he was not jealous) friend of Ash. "How long have you known Ash?" His main motive was to get to know this gorgeous babe so that he might… barrow her from Ash.

Misty almost barely heard Barry at all, still miffed after a day. "Oh." She has started to calm down though. "Well… I've known him since… since the beginning of his journey." She started to laugh a bit. "He was a complete newbie and didn't know anything at all. It is a surprise he managed to get this far even with my help."

"HA! So he was just lucky after all!" Barry proclaimed loudly.

Misty barely heard him once again. "But then again, its quiet amazing on some of the accomplishments he maid even for just being a kid."

And once again Barry flopped down in embarrassment trying to recover. "Ah aha…. yeah! He certainty…shows his….stuff… ". (**A/N****_:_** That statement is by no way meant to suggestive, get your mind out of the gutter.)

Dawn even though twelve years old sighed at this. "Your pathetic." She said.

"SHHHHHhhhhh!" Barry tried to hush her up incase Misty might here. "No I'm not!…. She… she just knows my rival better than I do! I want to know his weakness!"

She and Piplup both sweat dropped. "Suuurrreee you are."

"Pppiiiiiiii piplup."

In Barry's favor Misty did not hear them however was farther ahead of them than a few moments.

"Hey you guys are going to get left behind if you don't keep up!" Misty smiled saying this. She was very glad they weren't getting lost like normal. Though because of this she wasn't as use to traveling on the road it was a bit strange not going on a random adventure in every other day.

However it was getting a bit late. It was a bit hard on them, and her, to sleep on ground with mats again. So it was best they find a Pokemon center around.

Luckily there should've been one a mile away according to Dawn's map on her….wrist device. Misty didn't know much about the on-coming technology; apparently Kanto was a bit behind times but that was to be figured.

Barry vey fascinated with all the Kanto Native Pokemon around, Dawn had to drag him away from capturing them stating he already had a full team.

A surprise waited for them inside the center.

"Zoey?" Dawn called out seeing her red haired friend. Said red head turned to the trio.

"Dawn? Hey Dawn!" She ran up to her fellow coordinator. "Hey I haven't seen you since Sinnoh."

"Yeah I know right? Your probably here for Vermillion City Conference?" She assumed.

Zoey nodded before realizing the other guest. "These friends of yours?"

"Oh Yes." Dawn gestured to the other two. "You know my old friend Barry. You probably met him in Sinnoh. He's here for the Kanto League."

Zoey had to raise an eyebrow. "Wait… isn't the Kanto League closed?"

Barry slumped being reminded of his 'mistake'. "No need to rub it in." He mummered once again in a slump.

Dawn disregarded him. "And this is my new friend Misty! She's a Gym Leader and also friends of Ash."

Zoey seemed not surprise. "Seems like nearly everyone in this world knows that kid." A spark of realization. "Hey isn't Ash from Kanto?

"Yep." Misty said. "Apparently he's been hanging out here for over two months and never said anything to anyone else."

"Are you his girlfriend?" Zoey asked bluntly before she realized what she said.

A red blush came across all the female faces. Misty stuttered a bit but was mature enough to recover. "Oh!…..ah…. um no…. not really." She laughed a bit. "I mean what on earth gives you that idea?"

Zoey laughed too, embarrassingly. "Yeah I don't know. No clue at all!"

"Yeah no need to worry!" Dawn tried to change the subject. "So Zoey are you doing anything right now?"

"Umm…. no?" Zoey's face along with the others was starting to lose the red.

"How about you come with us? I'm sure once we meet Ash, he'll shows us all the cool battle spots while we wait for the conference."

"Hey that sounds like a good idea." Zoey smiled. "Alright you mind me tagging along?" She asked Misty who she rightly assumed to be the leader of this journey.

Misty did considerate. It was a bit discerning how Zoey blatantly asked that particular 'question' yet Zoey seemed like a nice girl and it has been a while since she traveled with more girls than boys in a group. "Yeah, sure. But!" The gym leader winked. "You gotta show me any water-type Pokemon that you have!"

* * *

It was past the middle of the night when Ash opened his eyes. His vision for some reason quickly adapted to the darkness. The only sounds were the snores of his Pokemon all curled up in a sleepy ball.  
For some reason, the human's body was full of energy and couldn't sleep. With some effort he managed to get Pikachu off his chest and slide of the pile of Pokemon without waking them up.

He quietly walked away from his group. Maybe somewhere in his mind it occurred to him that it was a bit dangerous for to wonder the woods alone at night, however the fresh cooler air of Johto excited him., Made him want to move.  
Ash let him instincts guide him in the dark. And while he did this, it was pretty neat to see the stars so clear at night. Looking hard Ash could make out the Mew constellation, the Flying Gyarados, and his favorite the Running Pikachu.

And while he made out these the stars Ash had wandered to one of the mountains nearby. Energy was still going through him and it would do no good to try to sleep with all of it, so he might as well use it up.

Ash was a lot like a mankey or any other rock Pokemon in his skill in climbing up the rocky ledges. He was careful not to get his clothes too dirty, yet continued upward. The boy didn't know when he was going to stop yet kept on climbing. It was good exercise and Ash felt the unnatural energy ebbing away. Yet something kept telling him to keep going.

Go and go until he found… something.

There was a ledge were Ash saw some green on it and a cave way in the back. It looked relaxing and Ash felt compelled to sit there for a while longer looking at the stars. It reminded of his experience with Jirachi and Max and May. Maybe…. if he wished?

Ash closed his eyes and smiled towards the sky. _'I wish…. That I can find an answer… not a solution but just a hint or some advise…. I…. I….ARGGGG! I don't know what to say!"_ Ash screamed in his mind.

He sighed, well that wish went out of the window. He had never been good during those quiet moments. He could laugh a bit seeing how he just ruined this moment.

So he just kept looking at the stars.

'!'

Ash ears seemed to perk. He blinked thinking he heard something, but soon disregarded that notion.

_'thmmmmmm…'_

Okay now he defiantly heard something. He got up and looked directly at the cave. Now that he looked at it properly it was sorta big. Really big.

_'Thuuuummm!"_

Now the noise was echoing. And it finally occurred to Ash that something large and unknown was coming his way and he didn't have any Pokemon to defend himself with.

Silently he thanks Anabel for calling Jed and thanked Jed for teaching him aura. His eyes flared up a bit and got in the proper stance to prepare an aura sphere. He didn't charge it, what ever was coming might be friendly.

'_Cruuush! Crrucch!'_

He could now make out a silluoet of what ever it was. It was large, spikey, and….

Ash gulped.

It was a tyranitar. A very big and very fierce looking tyranitar. Ash looked behind him and vaguely wondered if he could survive jumping off the cliff…. Well of course he could survive however get out uninjured… yeah not likely.

The duel type was getting closer. Ash was beginning to charge the aura but the tyranitar stopped in front of him.

It seemed to look at him expectantly, and Ash felt compelled to relax his stance. With a nod the tyranitar seemed to growl for something behind it.

Then a small and familiar head popped out from behind the bigger Pokemon's leg.

Ash nearly chocked in shock. "Lar… Larvitar?

The rock skin Pokemon bounded happily to the human happy that he was recognized.

"Lar law!" It tacked him with a whopping hug making poor Ash topple over.

"Oof!"

Instantly he noticed the little Larvitar was a _lot_ heavier than when he first hatched form an egg.

Despite of this Ash laughed. "Hey! Haven't seen you in a while! How you doing?"

Larvitar chirped happily trying to talk about all the adventures he had with his mother by making seemingly random gestures towards him and his mother. But then he seemed to realize what he was hear for and got off at Ash and went towards his mother.

"Ahhh…" Ash's stomach felt like he was hit like a rock but go figure. "What is going on?" He asked getting up.

The two Pokemon seemed to be talking to each other. The mother Tyranitar nodded again.

Larvitar did a little hop of joy and went back to Ash. He started to nudge his pant leg.

"Hey. Hey! What are ya doing?" More jabbing this time higher. "Oh my belt?" He looked at a set of Poke'balls, five of them already marked with his team he was taking with him and one was empty. It dawned on him.

"You…. you want to join me?" He asked in shock.  
The little one nodded; another hop.  
Ash looked at the mother as to ask for permission. And he could make out a smile on her rocky face.

_'Was this… suppose to happen?'_ He thought about how weird it was that Oh-Ho lead them to Johto…. did Oh-Ho lead these two here as well?

He looked down at his friend and saw the enthusiasm the larvitar had in his bright eyes.

"You've certainly grown a lot haven't ya?" He smiled petting the Rock type.

"Alright! I'll have ya on my team!"

"Larvitar!" It looked like it was time for the little guy to say good bye to his mother. It was then Ash felt himself in a crushing bear hug given both to him and Larvitar by the Tyranitar.

It was hard to breath!

But thankfully she let go, still having a smile on her snout.

It was a good goodbye so Larvitar expectantly turned to Ash for the next move.

So as natually as it came, the Poke'Ball was thrown in the air with the rock-type leaping towards it. A red light made contact and three wobbles then the defining sound of a captured Pokemon.

By the time Ash picked the Poke'Ball up the Tyranitar was already gone.

Determination came across his eyes. This was the answer, he got his wish.

* * *

His eyes were a bit sleepy by the time he got back before dawn. Shortly after his capture, Larvitar forced himself out of his Poke'Ball and made Ash carry him in his backpack like old times. And Larvitar was indeed heavier than last time. So it made not only the walk harder but also climbing down the mountain!

Luckily he got their before his Pokemon woke up. Imagine the panic they would be in seeing that their trainer had gone missing during the night.

Though Sceptile was already awake though and was near his trainer by the time Ash got in the area. However… because of his sudden appearance… Like always Larvitar Hardened and made Ash topple over by the sudden weight.

"Scep?" The grass-type was confused by the new arrival and the sudden action. And it was clear to Ash too.

"Oh um Sceptile this is an old friend of mine Larvitar… He decided to join our team." He took the still pokemon out of his backpack and, with effort, held him in his arms. "Larvitar, this is my friend Sceptile. He's really cool and I promise he won't hurt you. He's part of by team."

The harden went away but the Rock-Skin pokemon still looked at Sceptile wearily. Ash sighed. It was going to take a while for Larvitar to get comfortable with _ALL_ his Pokemon.

Pikachu was the next to wake up and was very very surprised to see the old friend sitting with Ash.

"PIKA!" Pikachu leaped over the pile of Pokemon and went to see if his eyes were deceiving him.

The little rock-type was so happy to see his old friend he also toppled over Pikachu when giving the electric type a hug.

"P-pika…" Little Pikachu couldn't even get up with Larvitar on him. "pika..pika pika." He still greeted his friend.

"Ah. C'mon Larvitar." Ash once again had to struggle to pick him up. _'My back is going to hurt if this keeps up.'_

Soon enough all the Pokemon were waking up and coming to see the new-comer. Ash's comforting hand kept Larvitar from Hardening but it still made the child Pokemon very shy and suspicious. So Pikachu had the bright idea to have the Pokemon line up and greet Larvitar one at a time. The Johto team had a easier time getting reacquainted yet the larger pokemon were more difficult to get comfortable around.

'Lar…." He whispered worriedly when it was Gabite's turn.

"Ga…. Gabite." He offered a fin. Gradually Larvitar took but did not expect Gabite to take that to launch into a conversation. Apparently what ever he was saying was something that Larvitar liked.

Ash remembered that based on their behavior that Gabite and Larvitar were around the same age and could get along better than others.

Soon enough by complete sunrise Larvitar was more or less comfortable with them.

"Everyone." Ash announced and immediately the Pokemon's attention turned to him. "I am going to have Larvitar on our team. I know I am adding another ground type but I have a feeling that Larvitar can be the extra boost we need in the upcoming battle." He turned to said pokemon. "I know this is sudden, but I would like you to be part of our team for an upcoming battle." He patted the rock-type. "I know you don't always like fighting but this would be very important for me and Pikachu and for everyone on my team."

It was no less of a surprise when Larvitar pumped up his arms and gave a growl of determination.

Everyone cheered confident in this new development.  
Ash cheered with them. "YEAH NOW WE CAN TELL ANABEL TO-"  
He bit his lip because he just realized on tiny little problem and his Pokemon must have realized it too as they too shut up.  
You could see his pupils dilate.

"HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET BACK ON TIME?!"

Panic insured as Ash tried to grab his team all together as the other Pokemon rushed quickly to get back to the Battle Tower!

But it would take hours! It occurred to Ash he was indeed going to be late and that was one thing as a Frontier Brain Anabel had stressed over and over again:  
Don't. Be. Late.

By then he was rushing a head of his Pokemon until his sides hurt.  
"AAHHHH WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?" By now they would've already left the Battle Tower!  
However he didn't notice all his Pokemon had stopped and by the time he did he crashed into something big brown and furry.

"Pika!"

The third time today he was knocked on his bum and Pikachu landed on the ground behind him.

"Arh…..Wait what the?" His eyes adjusted quickly yet still couldn't believe what he saw!

It was Anabel's Entie and Raikou. They were standing over him expectantly.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked picking up Pikachu. There was no answer when Entie crashed into his legs and made Ash get on his back.  
"Ride?" A growl that seemed like a yes.  
Ash understood.  
"Raikou could you lead the rest of my team back to Anabel's?"  
The Electric Legendary agreed to this and the rest of the Pokemon followed him.

"Right! Entie let's goooOOOOOO!" They zoomed out of the forest in a blink of an eye. Entie running leaps seemed to go ever quarters of miles every time. Pikachu struggled to hang on to Ash and Ash struggled to hang onto Entie and his hat!  
But it was fun!  
The wind rushing through your hair and the landscape passing by.

_'Was this what Anabel had been doing when she wasn't around?'_ Well that wasn't fair! Anabel had been having fun all this time and hadn't told him?  
Hmph!

* * *

Nearby the docks of Vermillion City. Anabel and Noland looked bored with the rest of the Frontier Brains on an outside lounge.

"Are you sure he's going to be here on time?" Lucy asked a bit irritated of waiting.

Anabel didn't even give her fellow co-worker a glance. "Don't worry. He'll get here. Ash just had somethings to …..'sort out'."

Lucy looked unimpressed. The rest looked more or less bored.

Anabel's eyes widened a bit and stood up. "Ah… he's here." Everyone else stood up and sure enough over the buildings unbeknownst to the pedestrians of the city Entie came with the guest of the day.

Entie skidded perfectly next to Anabel with a dazed Ash and Pikachu on his back.

"Hi Ash!" Noland greeted and helped the boy down from the legendary and Anabel recalled the fire-type back.

"Hey Noland. Hey Anabel. Hey… everyone." Ash greeted while trying to adjust staying still.  
Anabel gave him a slight slug. "Did you get what you needed?"

Figures since Anabel sent her Legendaries she knew about his side-quest.

Ash smiled. "Yeah…. yeah. Thanks Anabel." They clapped hands together which was a friendly gesture.  
Like stated before these two weren't really about being romantic.

Pikachu nearly fell off of Ash's shoulder only for Anabel to catch him. "Oh poor Pikachu. Was the ride a bit too much?"

The electric type nodded like a spinda. "Piiikkaaaaaaa

"Yoish! Let's get a move on!" Greta called them all together. The seven Brains and the initiate went closer to the docks and what Ash saw made his eyes widen.

"ARE WE GOING IN THAT?" He yelled. It was a huge cruise like yacht with the Kanto Battle Frontier symbol on it, it was the same one on his hat.

"Yes indeed!" Tucker proclaimed clamping a hand over Ash's shoulder. "Tis the perks of being a brain of value and honor. Truly people know how we contribute to the community!"

"That, and we get paid a lot of money through merchandising." Noland said.

Ash couldn't comprehend that much money to buy something so big. "This thing is bigger than that one cruise ship I went on when I was ten." He mummered to himself.

On the boat was even more amazing, the outer deck was made of light yet re-enforced metal for a Pokemon battle area. Beach chairs, tables, a fruit bar! Wow! Ash mind couldn't wait to see the inside of the yacht.

"This thing could hold over a hundred people!" Ash was amazed at this. It was so fancy!

"Or just several Frontier Brains and their Pokemon." Spencer added smiling seeing Ash's growing excitement.

"We should wait though to release them." Lucy said suddenly appearing next to Ash, startling him.  
"WAA!"  
"We should get further out to sea first." Our hero noticed that the other Brains nodded and it made him wonder for what reason.

"Ah! Your all here!" Scott finally seemed to arrive coming up to the yacht. "Good good."

Brandon huffed at his boss. "Its funny that _your_ the one who is late."

Scott decided to humor Brandon and ask why. The eighth Brain held back a sigh. "Well…. Here we thought you would get here before the boy as you were in the city right next to Vermillion and He-" He pointed a thumb towards Ash. "was a region away, yet here he got here first."

Scott was curious at this, looking quizzedly at Ash but said nothing. "Alright everyone ready?" This time he walked to Ash.

"So… Where are we going?"

End of Chapter 20

* * *

**Alright! One chapter is done and yes I really like Larvitar and I was always hoping during the Battle Frontier that they would bring him back as we saw him in the Title animation.**

**So no Oh-Ho is not yet attainable by Ash, I am not into cliches and you may be surprised to what I have picked as a Legendary.**

**So far only one person has gotten it right.**

**Next up Part III**

**Please review and ask questions if you need them. I will try my best to answer them without spoiling the story.**


	21. Legends Among Us: Part III

**Hello! Dear followers! **

**This is True-InTha-Blue. And I have another chapter for you!  
Unfortunately this is actually one half of the original chapter that I wanted to post. However due to the slow pace it was going, I decided NOT to torture us both and just post this as a chapter itself and write another chapter for the next part.**

**Contents of this chapter contain:  
Hanging out with Frontier Brains.  
Cute Pokemon humor.  
Abilityshipping  
And Pokemon Master theories!**

**And that's about it. I promise though there will be more progression next chapter. I promise!  
But for some other news**

**1!  
This fall I shall be attending Savannah College of Art and Design! Its like the Princeton of art schools. I am so excited!**

**And  
2!  
Bored of my story? Want something to read while I'm gone or being lazy?  
Check out YOUNGER P's Revival at the Champions League.  
He is the younger brother of the Mysterious Mr. P who had initially inspired me to write this story. And his writing skills far surpass mine. I am honored to have talked with him on FanFiction and I highly suggest my fans to go support him. He updates faster and is a far better writer than I wish to be. So please go!  
TRUE-INTHA-BLUE DEMANDS IT!.  
**

**But for now enjoy this story.  
Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 21

Legends Among Us: Part III

"So… Where are we going?" Scott asked our hero. The ship was ready to set sail; everyone was there, all that was needed was a location to go. Ash blushed.  
"Ah…. I haven't thought of a place yet…" He said sheepishly.  
It was no surprise that everyone sweat dropped, especially Anabel who neglected to ask Ash where he would find his legendary.  
Whoops.

Luckily Brandon was the first to take action.

"If this is the case then we should at least sail south for an angle at any region. While we do that; boy-" He turned to Ash who gulped. "you go to your quarters and think about what where we are going."

"Ah… What should I think about?" Ash asked cautiously.

Spencer was the one to answer stroking his beard. "The way you usually do things Ash, use your heart."

* * *

Hidden behind some cargo bins on the docks, a familiar young man watched the brains from afar with a pair of binoculars. The spinda on the side pretended to substituted his own paws for the device.

"Man…" Jed sighed. "I really hate spying. I feel like such a…a…"

"Spin?"  
"Yeah a creep." Jed decided he looked enough when the Frontier Brains had started to head for the interior. "But someone's gotta watch out for that kid… for now at now at least."

Spinda seemed to berate him on that last part. "Yeah yeah I know… I can't hang around the kid too much… it would be like waving a red flag to that fowl man." Green eyes flared with Aura sight will quick scanning the area. "It's safe for now. I know the Frontier Brains can look out for Ash and that man is out of region for now. I should go report my findings."

"Spin… spinda." The Spot Panda pokemon looked worriedly at his trainer. Tugging at his pant leg at pointing at the boat as if to get a point across.

"Yep. He's probably going to visit _there_ as well. We better get going fast right? C'mon. Let's go find us a fast boat."

* * *

Ash went into the very luxurious lobby located in the side of the yacht. His room was somewhere around here… but where? This place is huge! Seriously he didn't know that the Frontier Brains got so much money!

"Pikkaaaa…." Pikachu peered at the keys in his trainer hand trying to find the address. His black eyes searched around the whole area and lit up spotting the door symbol that was the same on the key: GI.

He yanked his trainers hair to make him look that way. "Pi pi!" He leaped off leading Ash to the door that was a floor above the main deck.

And on the other side of the door… the room was also huge. It was like the size of the living room and two kitchens in his house. What on earth was he suppose to do with this much space?!

Pikachu had already freely plopped himself down on a bed… that looked like it was made for Pikachu…

He remembered that Spencer had said… he could have his Pokemon on here. The sound of five Poke'balls being opened.  
Bulbasaur, Snorlax, Galie, Gabite and Larvitar. While the other Pokemon admired their setting Larvitar instantly took shelter behind Ash's leg.  
This caused our hero to sigh.  
"C'mon Larvitar." Ash said crouching down to eye level. "I would've thought that after all this time you would've gotten better… guess I still need to help you get adjusted."  
The rock type gave Ash a kinda begrudging glare that easily showed that Ash was right.  
"Alright… Your not going to like this at first but I am going to introduce you to some friends of mine."

He held Larvitars little arm to emphasize a point. "Now listen hear… These people are a lot like me… They are just compassionate as I am when it comes to Pokemon. I want you to become comfortable around nice humans alright… so… give them a chance?" He asked with a smile.

The Pokemon gave a small nod.  
"Great… uff!" Larvitar once again had attempted to get carried on Ash, and it was by luck that Ash managed to catch him and not fall.

"Geeze…"

Of course Ash did not forgot the assignment given to him by Brandon. Ash thought about all the legendary Pokemon he knew… Okay he knew a lot of them…. but who did he knew…

Ash racked his brain for any Pokemon he knew that well… Mew… Well which mew? Mewtwo? Where in the world would he find that guy? Seriously! How was he suppose to find a guy who didn't want to be found?

…Uh…..

Ash came to the first room he found which had GIII on it and before think he knocked while struggling to keep Larvitar in place.  
"Come in." A stern voice said.  
Ash gulped knowing who it was…. but it would be rude to just knock and not enter.

"Uh…" Ash entered the door. "Hi… Brandon…" His eyes met the stern man's ones. His room was bigger than Ash's but he had no Pokemon out yet

"Lar!" The eyes scared the Pokemon, instantly forgetting his new trainers words and hardened in order to protect himself.

The archeologist gaze was unaffected seeing Ash's new Pokemon frightened immediately and use a move that it was not suppose to have. "I thought I told you to think boy."

Ash looked away both from Brandon's stern gaze and by his embarrassment of Larvitar.  
"I have been, I have been… but-" He looked at the Pokemon in his arms. "I wanted to introduce you to Larvitar… He ah…. needs some help adjusting to humans."

Brandon briefly looked down. "I assume you have met this Pokemon before, at birth."

Ash was a bit startled at Brandon's astute deduction. "Yeah… He… he's had some trouble with poachers when he was an egg…. and he's gotten better… he just still…"

"Needs to adjust." Brandon finished. For the first time today Brandon smiled at the little Pokemon. The seventh Brain reached in his pocket and got out a solid white Poke'block and offered it to Larvitar.  
The two trainers waited a good minute before Larvitar actually reached out for the Poke'block. Its eyes widened in surprise at the flavor it never had and looked surprised at Brandon, though the pokemon didn't smile you could see he wasn't as suspicious of the brain as before. It was only Brandon's eyes that kept a distance and really who can blame him?

Ash smiled at the development. "See? This isn't so bad." he said to Larvitar.

"Lar." Shyness developed and he buried his face in Ash's shirt.

"Good luck on the rest." Brandon said. It was a dismissal and Ash didn't argue stepping out of the room and wondering where to go next. As there where many empty rooms, probably for future Brains. So he had more time to think about the legendaries.

Now… Johto? There were many …elusive ones…. Suicine?… Once again where would he find that Pokemon? It had been so long. And he didn't think Larviatar would know either. He came to another door, this time not bothering to look at the sign and knocked again.

Spencer was the one to opened the door and luckily Larvitar didn't freeze up. Spencer had that type of feeling him that was calming. Probably due to the fact this man was of sorts, one with nature.

"Ah. So this little fellow is your reason for being late?" Spencer joked.

Ash did a sheepish smile.  
"Ah yeah… I want him to get more comfortable to humans he-"

"Ah I see it in his eyes. Poor thing was scared before his hatching." Spencer frowned. "Funny how Pokemon are able to sense the world around them even when not officially born. (sigh) How scaring."

Ash was amazed how Spencer was able to see all of this. "Wow. So you have any advice?"

Spencer smiled sagely. "This little one is still young… but with you and with experience on your journey I think he will learn the kindness of others and how to deal justice to those who have previously done harm and those who will in the future."

Larvitar was slowly relaxing in Ash's arms. Feeling a bit more of ease. This man smelled of mountains and plants… kinda like Johto where he lived. "Larvitar." He said letting Spencer pet him on the head.

"Hmmm very strong. Its almost like he's been training for this." Spencer said mysteriously.

Ash didn't get it thinking about something else. "That' right… I gotta help train Larvitar more to prepare for the Legendary."

"Then you better get on it."

"Right!" Ash smiled again at Larvitar. "Thanks for the advice Spencer."

"Be good now Ash." Spencer

This seemed to be the best advice and it seemed that Larvitar had a general idea on who was on this boat. He went back to his room and layer on his bed, yet Larvitar didn't seem to want to leave.

"Ah…." He turned to his Pokemon. "What's the matter?"

Strangely Larvitar did nothing, just sit next to the human. Ash did raise an eyebrow at this but continued his musing for the legendary. He closed his eyes, relaxing in the first time in a while waiting for… well anything.

* * *

Night had fallen on the Frontier ship and by now there was no land in sight and the only light was the stars and ships internetwork. And though the day remained peaceful, the night…. was not.

Apparently Brandon should not be allowed in the kitchen.

Not too long ago Ash heard a loud booming like noise outside his door waking him up from an unintentional nap. He must've dozed off somewhere in his musings. When noticing how awfully heavy his body was, the sight that greeted him Pikachu, Larvitar, and Gabite were all laying across his body, deciding him to be a better bed than the actually bed.

Pikachu wasn't that bad but Larvitar and Gabite where both heavy and laid leisurely on his body.

"Hey…" Ash struggled to get up not to knock over his Pokemon, however it would seem he could only lift his head using only meager strength. Irritated, a growl came out of his mouth and it startled the pokemon off of him.  
He quickly frowned seeing their frightened looks, Pikachu's paw clutching his heart.  
"Sorry." He muttered. Still in his head he wondered what was that loud noise from earlier. He and a trail of three pokemon came out to the main lobby and noticed a pair of double doors slightly opened letting sound leak from it. It sounded like yelling.

The team peaked in seeing what looked like Greta, Noland, and Brandon yelling at each other in the kitchen while Tucker, Spencer and Lucy stood by the sides ignoring it.

Brandon and Noland were covered in foam and where at each other throats in a heated argument and Greta, though void of foam, looked as miffed as well.

_"I TOLD YOU I WAS THE ONE COOKING TONIGHT!"_

_"I DON'T KNOW WHY. I PERFECTLY HAD EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL!"_

_"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YOU CAN'T COOK?"_

_"I-"_

_"AND NOW WE HAVE TO CLEAN UP THIS PLACE!"_

Ash and his Pokemon dead panned and feeling the empty hole where their stomachs were. No food? Oh dear.

'Psst!"

And small noise came from behind. It was back out in the lobby but he didn't see anything.

"Psst! Up here." And indeed Anabel was standing nearby the railing but just barely. She beckoned Ash to her.  
Always happy to spend time with her Ash bounded up the stairs. Larvitar stared unsure yet soon noticed he was alone Pikachu and Gabite already following behind Ash.

"Lar?! LARR!" He rushed after Ash not wanting to be alone.

* * *

Struggling to walk with Larvitar clutching on his leg for dear life. It was like walking with weights strapped to it. Gabite watched in fascination at this new way his trainer was walking. Pikachu was already on Anabel's shoulder with Espeon twisted around her legs like a cat.  
An her expression was full of mirth seeing the sight before her. "Trouble?"

Ash huffed. "He's defiantly gotten heavier last time I've seen him. Aggg…" He gritted his teeth when the Rock-type clutched tighter. "And a lot stronger too. Yikes." He looked forlorn to Anabel. "He's still is uneasy around humans and he's even more worried now that he won't get any food."

"Yeah… I figured something like that would happen, luckily I came prepared. C'mon." She revealed to him a small meal of sandwiches and chips with tamato berry salsa. And so happy was he that he almost rushed in her room before freezing at thought he was about to do. Frozen in his steps he hardly budged when even Gabite pushed passed him eager to reach the Pokemon food.

_'I…. I can't go in there….'_

This strange behavior was unlike Ash. "Um what's wrong?" Anabel asked wondering why on earth Ash just stood there in the doorway. Larvitar was still clinging on his leg.

Ash blushed a deep red. "I…I… uh…." How should he say it? Seriously! He… he …

Anabel was starting to get worried. "Ash what's wrong?" No answer. "Ash." She said more sternly.

"I…uh… not suppose…. go in here." He mummer intelligibly

Now this was just confusing.

She shot him a very cold glare daring him to speak up.

Ash gulped further. "I… I ahh… Not suppose to go… in girls rooms. My mom told me it's… inappropriate."

Really?  
_twitch  
_Her eye has been doing that a lot lately.

"Ash…. where have you been living for the past two months?" Her tone was calm sounding and curious, but for some reason sent chills down Ash's spine.

"Ah… your house?"

The Salon Maiden nodded slightly. "Yeah… and besides you and the Pokemon who else has been living there?" Suddenly she yanked down on his collar looking directly in his eyes as if daring him to speak. Despite of having eerily duel colored eyes, it was the lilac ones that were unnerving.

_'Oh boy._

"Um…. eh… you were…"

The eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Ash gulped. "That's right." Anabel said. "And was anyone else living there?"

"No."

"So tell me Ash, despite of living in a house with me for the past two months alone, why on earth is it inappropriate for you to be invited in my room on a ship?"

"Well actually I never been in _your room_ per say…" Ash countered with a surprising logical reason. "Not even in your house…. so… living in your house and actually going to _your_ room are two" he separated his index fingers apart. "different things."

Anabel let go, surprised by his well thought out argument. "Ah… well…. then I guess you're right then." She blushed. "But ah… look just come in please. I'm inviting you in alright? Its just dinner."

Slowly Ash nodded seeing nothing wrong with dinner while feeling his stomach growl.

"K…" He was still shy about this.

Anabel shot him a concerned look. "What brought this on anyway? Its unlike you being so shy."

"Its ah… probably because I'm not use to this side of me." He said looking up from trying to pry Larvitiar off his leg. "I'm… just don't know how to act… I've never had to do anything like this."

Anabel sat down on her bed/futon. "I can see that… I'm not use to this either… that's probably why I reacted so strongly to your shyness."

The boy smiled ruefully. "Yeah… I'm just not use to having a…a"

"Girlfriend?" Both humans shuddered at the name.

But both laughed at their reactions.  
"We gotta find a better name for this." Anabel said with laughter in her voice.

"Seriously." Ash said now having Larvitar in his arms. "Hmmm… how about partners?"

Anabel questioned this though she didn't seem to mind the name. "Most people wouldn't relate that to a relationship."

Ash crinkled his eyes. "Exactly. Only you and I would understand what it would mean and also… I don't think you or I have a single romantic bone in our body." Both trainers laughed at this knowing this was true.

"Gabite!" They had forgotten about the dragon type chowing down all the other Pokemon's food

"Hey hey!" Ash quickly gave Larvitar to Anabel to yank his Dragon-type away from the food. "Leave some for everybody else." Using much of his strength he pulled the dragon back until the young Pokemon got the hint.  
"Oi what am I going to do with you?" He teased the ground-type.

"Gaaa…." Due to his recent evolution the formally small dragon got some brains in his head and so realized what his trainer was trying to do. Of course this didn't stop Gabite from easily getting his attention diverted. He looked at his buddy Larvitar who seemed to be locked in a staring contest with the Salon Maiden. Tact didn't apply much to Gabite as he barked at the two startling them both.

Larvitar squeezed out of the Frontier brain's arms trying to get away from the strange feeling he was getting from the human.

Anabel frowned for only a quick second before turning to Ash who was helping get food out for the rest of the Pokemon.

"So that little guy is what you've been looking for in your team?" Anabel had been there when Ash was desperately trying to decipher a team to tackle the legendary. However there was always a missing piece to the equation for Ash.

"Ah… yeah." Ash said. "Sorry about dumping him on ya, he's not quiet-"

"Use around humans. Yeah you've kinda said that already" Anabel finished for him. "And its easy to sense his pain … the emotions, though healed, are a bit unstable." Anabel looked down sadly, her eyes far away looking in the past. "I'm used to hanging around Pokemon with bitter past its-" Anabel paused as if she was realizing what she was saying. "it… was just some unfortunate circumstances I stumbled upon when I was young."

The Salon Maiden looked away from Ash's unnerving gaze and let a small inward sigh of relief when he choose not to say anything about her sketchy sentence.

"Ah… yeah. It's tough when you have to go through that." Ash said. "But ah.. looks like we're done!" He said cheerily.

"C'mon! Let's get our eats on too!" He said grabbing her hand. And just like that the awkwardness settling around them had disappeared. They were Ash and Anabel two trainers who loved Pokemon, battling and just happened to like each other.

And thank goodness for all that was simple.

"So Brandon can't cook?" Ash asked taking a bite out of his sandwich. Anabel had been explaining the situation downstairs.

Anabel gave him a distraught look. "Yep. As you can imagine, the horror I had when I was under his charge as an apprentice."

Ash laughed. "So that where you learned to cook?"

"It was that or starve. Plus Brandon's choice of cuisine is at best… exotic." Anabel gave a small shiver at the thought. "I tell you that man's a genius when it comes to Pokemon and history however he couldn't navigate out of a cookbook if his life depended on it." The two trainers both laughed at the joke. From behind they hear the Pokemon laugh with them. Taking a glance over his shoulder Ash saw the Pokemon looking at Anabel's Orange Pokemon Egg. It was on the bed nestled securely in blankets with Espeon curled around it to keep it warm. Pikachu was assisting by doing the same while the Pokemon huddled around them. They looked cute together.

"So how is the egg doing?" Ash asked. He was genuinely curious what it contained. Oooooohhh the anticipation was exciting.

Anabel smiled at the scene before her. "I took it to Spencer and he said it was healthy and that it should hatch around in few weeks. Some times after holding it for a while, I can feel it move." Anabel said happily.

Ash grinned. "YEAH! Wait till it hatches. That's really a blast to see what kind of Pokemon is in it. It's like better than a Christmas present." As if hearing them the Egg did indeed rock, only a little bit. But it was enough to send the trainers up to their feet.

"IT MOVED!" Both trainers said. What was left of their meal was forgotten as both b-lined for the Pokemon Egg. Their respective starters made way for the humans who took positions next to the living parcel.

"Oh Man! What do you think it is?" Ash said looking at the orange and black spotted egg. He wanted to use Aura sight but…. Naaaaa, where's the fun in that?

Anabel smiled lifting the egg so both could see it. "No clue! But Brandon must know. He's the one who gave it to me." Ash held his hands out wanting to feel the smooth texture. It's been awhile since he held a Pokemon egg. Dawn never really let him take care of her cyndaquil much to his disappointment. Speaking of taking care…..

"Hey Larvitar want to see this?" He beckoned his Rock-type forward. Larvitar was curious as this was an egg as similar to he was. He lifted his little arms wanting to see it closer. Gently Ash lowered it within arms reach of the Pokemon taking care not to drop it.

Watching this scene allowed a grin to the Salon Maiden's face. "I'm hoping you'll still be around to help me take care of it. I mean… your more of the expert for these things." The two humans smiled until Ash noticed her words.

"Still be around…. Oh right… after I become an official Frontier Brain I won't be around you anymore." He started to look a bit dejected. "I… kinda just realized that."

He mused.

"You just now see that huh?" Anabel cast him sympathetic glance. "Will you be okay?"

Surprisingly Ash smiled. "Yeah! We'll be alright! We'll still be together even if we're apart. I mean, that's how bonds work!" His voice was so full of determination, so sure of himself that it was impossible to argue.

No need to think about the variables. When Anabel agreed she had the same confidence as he did.

* * *

Another night of restless sleep; Ash growled to himself in the night. He glared at the clock on his stand which read 3:00 AM in bright neon red. He envied his Pokemon laying around in deep slumber. The boy's mind was tired but no matter how he tossed and turned in the bed his body would not relax!

So he decided to continue for the second time this week to walk around to tire his body. Outside seemed nice, sea breeze and all that.

His room came furnished with certain comforts that a normal trainer could never access. Two which were robes and slippers. His were a soft charcoal black and nice and soft, perfect for the cool air outside when Ash stepped out to a breeze. He watched the dark ocean sway back and forth gripping the cold metal guard rails. The breaths of fresh air made his mind clearer and he was truly left alone to think.

_'I'm going to be doing the impossible.'_ The thought crossed his mind. He thought what he had done in the past months. An internship, learning to regain his confidence, having an even deeper connection to his Pokemon, learning about Aura and learning about Anabel and the rest of the Frontier Brains. HE was becoming a part of the Battle Frontier. This… this was a career, a job. A responsibility he had to fulfill. And its not that he minded, this job was doing something he loved but… how would this affect his future? How would this affect him becoming a Pokemon Master? That dream was still there and it shined more brightly then ever before… but… Just what exactly WAS a Pokemon Master? What did it mean, what did it entail? the path to that designation had becomes twisted and covered with many many things in his life and though each one of those twist and turns he loved, there was still a long long ways to go.

And throughout his joinery only told him that no one really knew what a Pokemon Master was, they had that belief that it was there, that it can be fought for and it was indeed a title full of honor and glory… but… what was it? Was it really worth it to chase after something he didn't know for sure?

Ash sense interrupted his inner monolog detecting another presence entering the area. Turning around he met the robed Scott who for some reason was still wearing his sunglasses. What a weird guy.

Scott smiled at him. "Ah. Looks like I'm not the only who can't sleep." The older man let out a big yawn to emphasize this. "Yo Ash what's up?"

"Oh… um nothing." Ash decided against saying anything of the previous subject. But Scott saw right through this.

"Nice try man but no one goes looking at the sea at night for thoughts about nothing. Somethings got your tail." Ash looked away surprised at his obviousness. "Oh don't be like that. C'mon tell ol uncle Scott what's got ya all bothered over a nice cup of… well what ever you feel in the mood for."

Scott lead the trainer through the ship to another section of the kitchen that was more like a normal house kitchen, equipped with cushioned chairs, small table and expresso machine… wait what?

"Ever had a cappuccino Ash? Their pretty good." Scott asked starting to work with the complex beverage machine.

"Ah… no. But I'll try one sure." The silence was awkward, Scott humming to himself oblivious to Ash's discomfort.

"So ah… how was supper last night?" Ash asked nervously.

Scott laughed. "Ah so you heard the yelling? Then again no surprise, you could've heard them hollering at their throats a mile away."

"Will they be alright?" Ash asked concerned.

Scott waved away. "Nah don't sweat it. We're like a family so they'll get over by tomorrow."

"Family?" Ash asked.

Scott smiled. "Well yeah, that's how we work around here. Like our bonds with our Pokemon, I am a firm believer that making bonds with our co-workers to strengthen the Battle Frontier as a whole. Ya see?"

"Is that what you intended when you first made the Battle Frontier?" Ash asked. With everything going through his mind having someone else's opinion on the matter of goals might be good for him. "I mean when you first dreamed about it… did you have this in mind?

Scott set down a steaming cup of brown liquid with a frothy white cream top. It smelled a bit sweet but bitter. He decided against taking a sip due to the steam rising from it. Concerning his question Scott seemed to be choosing his words.

"Well that's an excellent question Ash. What was I thinking when I built the Battle Frontier?" This seemed to amuse him. "Well you know the basic description, that I wanted to display the beauty of battle, to focus bonding with your Pokemon in order to active true strength and growth. That is what the outsider sees and that is what we want to show the world. However in becoming a frontier brain you have discovered the other side to us."

"Yeah the Legendaries…" But how Scott said it sounded like it there was something else to this. "…Is showing off how to battle is really the true reason for the Battle Frontier Scott? I mean there are the Pokemon Leagues that do that… but we…" The more he thought about it the odder the Battle Frontier really seemed.

Scott smiled. "You are smart. Your right, there are the Pokemon leagues. And as you know they specialize in types of Pokemon to challenge a trainers diversity and ability to battle. But as you know the Battle Frontier focuses on how to battle challenging trainers to adapt and overcome trials presented. And as you have seen the Battle Brains are especially integrated into the human community and the Pokemon community. Think of us as the bridge between nature and civilization." Scott took a sip his eyebrows now furrowed.

"There are good people and bad people in this world, and I know you have had your fair share of those bad people. When Ash looked surprised he saw a knowing smile on the CEO of the Battle Frontier. "Yeah I know about all your adventures. Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua and recently Team Glatica. And thanks to you, you have stopped some mighty fine catastrophes."

Ash was startled beyond belief. "Uh… how on Earth do you know about this?" He started to drink his cappiccino, he could hardly taste any of the flavor he was so shocked.

Scott chuckled. "Yeah I know. But anyone can find this stuff out if they pay attention and know where to look. And I am an expert at finding these things. For you see Ash your not the only one who does their own brand of justice."

It dawned on Ash what he was getting at. "Does that mean…"

"All the people I choose to challenge the Battle Frontier have all had a history of fighting against crime and keeping the peace between humans and Pokemon." Scott then began to explain the pasts of the other Frontier Brains.

Beginning with Noland, he was once a Pokemon ranger who specialized in Technology as a teen and was head commander of the Ranger corporation by the time he was 18.

Tucker was part time fashion and performance master and part time infiltrator to several crime organizations and Pokemon abuse centers during the night. How do you think he got so agile on those flying cords during his performances?

Greta even when young had always been her towns local defender from gangs and the occasional corrupted businessman using both herself and her Pokemon as defenders of justice! Helping beat down towns by helping people train and treat their Pokemon strongly to beat out any mafias while trying to scare out poachers from sacred places in nature.

Lucy is the daughter of a former Team Rocket group who have in the past crippled the Team Rocket expansion of Johto. Lucy has decided to personally keep Team Rocket at bay in Kanto for the past 4 years. Dealing with various of other scientist and grunts that Ash has yet to encounter. What, you think he was the only one who got into situations dealing with Team Rocket?

Spencer of course, was a local Shaman of a very small village who a long time ago (he's old) stopped a several magically controlled legendaries from destroying a region from a more occult like villainous group. Throughout most of his life he has helped towns and the wild regions develop bonds between the two. He has also has recently dealt with the aftermath of Team Magma's and Team Aqua's rampage.

Brandon has always stopped people from abusing legendaries those whose information had been found in ancient ruins. Unown, Legendary trios, ancient prophesies have been saved by Brandon and kept away from most unsavory types. Brandon is also a large hunter of ruin hunters, pirates, and poachers. taking them down and has a rehab for their pokemon to help them get readjusted to living in nature.

And Anabel, as people have seen, helps the Pokemon in the forest and has used her powers to calm powerful pokemon from rampaging. In the past she defended a sanctuary of Pokemon from being destroyed by a now no longer existent corporation, not to mention turned in the Kanto Leagues 8th gym that was under Team Rocket's control. to Officer Jenny While under Brandon's care she has helped with healing pokemon's minds. However Scott has explained that Anabel has still yet to find her place.

"And maybe with all your experience, you'll help her find it eh chosen one or King of the Sea?"

Ash nearly spewed hot steaming liquid over Scott hearing a title he had not heard in nearly 4 years or the other more obscure one.  
Taking a painful gulp, he rasped. "How-"

"I actually watch the news and do the research behind it. Man, you would not believe how many people just don't pay attention to this type of stuff, then again, most of this stuff doesn't seem believable." He looked shifty for a moment. "Plus… I have a network of sorts."

Scott shook his head in disbelief at his own words.

"Anyway that whole point is, that someone needs to combat the bad guys and thats why I kinda made the Battle Frontier out of people who have knack with dealing with this type of stuff. And the most efficient way is to show the forces of nature humanity's good side by combating the bad side."

Ash realized what Scott was saying. "That's right… bad guys are trying to gain the power of pokemon and legendaries… especially legendaries."

"Right and as you know Legendaries seem to always have a bad misconception when it comes to these teams trying to control their powers through various of unethical means. I mean who wouldn't think humans were a bunch of jerks when it came to the situations in history of the past…. So that's why I got a team of remarkable people to show remarkable Pokemon what we have to offer.

Think of the Battle Frontier as a team of Pokemon. You got to have people of all different types, strong and adaptable, each with their each unique battle style to overcome the challenges ahead. You gotta have bonds between Pokemon and humans after all no one can face anything alone."

"So does that make you our trainer?" Ash asked with a smile on his face. This caused the other man to burst into laughter.

"Haha! I guess you can say that!" The realization had sunk in. The Battle Frontier existed for two things. To encourage people to bond with their Pokemon, and making them stronger while also keeping evil men at bay from these powerful forces of nature. They were here to help people understand Pokemon and for Pokemon to understand humans. This wasn't just some job to just go off and battle, but to build trust and relationships. Become ...something more.

Somehow this information made a warm feeling deep inside of Ash. This was a good purpose. Even the coffee drink tasted better after hearing this.

It dawned on Ash that maybe Scott would know what he was going through. "Hey Scott? Mind if I ask you another question?"

The elder man chuckled. "Well you've kinda already did but sure you can ask another one."

They both laughed at the joke.

"What do you think it means… to be a Pokemon Master?" A strange feeling started to well up in him, uncertainty.

Scott scratched his chin.

"Well that's also a very good question. Let's see here-" He gave Ash a x-ray stare. "What do you think it is?"

Ash looked embarrassed calling upon his childhood naivety. "Well… When I was ten and when I first started out as a trainer, I thought it meant you got to collect all of them. But then when I realized that was practically impossible I began to think it meant being the strongest and then the best." He shook his head in defeat. "And I kinda stuck with that for the rest of my journey. But after the my own challenge for the Battle Frontier, Sinnoh kinda crumbled that belief down." He gave Scott a look of raw determination.

"I still want to become a Pokemon Master, now more then ever, now that I have a clearer focus on who I am. But… I don't know where to go from here. I want to believe that it means more than what I'm have previously thought."

"Well, yeah I can see why you think that." Scott nodded. "The title 'Pokemon Master' is never really explained. I'm sure that lots of kids have had similar thoughts. But there is one thing you have that most don't." He said mysteriously; his voice was leading on edge.

"What is it?"

"You focus on both sides."

"Huh?" The mysterious words told of nothing. It was like biting into a chocolate cookie only to have the chocolate be raisins!

But due to maturity, Ash wisely kept his flap shut. "I see." It was time to use that brain he discovered recently and figure this out. Words really do mean nothing if you don't work for them after all.

A wave of weariness came over the young lad. Despite of the drink caffeine, it seemed like his mind and body were on terms to fall asleep. Across the table, Scott had the same idea. Taking a huge yawn the man sent the boy off. "Now get some rest Ash. Tomorrow we set a destination towards… well… wherever."

End of Chapter 21

* * *

**Remember everything on my story is part of my own opinion and in no way should be mistaken as cannon. And also expect plot holes. I'm kinda not perfect and its hard remembering everything that has happened in the Pokemon Anime.  
And now to explain things:**

**I always thought the Battle Frontier was something special while I watched the Anime and played Emerald. I mean it was weird how Scott seemed to know everything and was chill lax about everything. I think he's dealt with stuff such as Pokemon Criminals before. Plus how the Frontier Brains are all very strong and uphold strong Pokemon Values just like a certain protagonist that we all know that they seemed not the type of people who stand idly by as mistreatment against Pokemon going on.  
So I added a little spice.  
Now are you guys okay with Legendaries?  
Anywho  
If you have any questions I'll try answering them to the best of my ability without spoilers.**

**Have fun folks!**

**...**

**GO TO YOUNGER P DO IT DO IT DOIT!**


	22. Legends Among Us: Part IV

**Whoops Sorry!  
****I forgot to post Authors Notes.**

**Yeah, Took me a while because I was very unsure whether or not to put the Merry Isle interlude but I kept looking at the polls, people wanted, though I understand that most people did not. I am trying my best to keep it short and sweet.  
This that whole part is just to put an interesting twist on the aura community.  
As folk who have read my MegaMan fic, they found out I like taking concepts, dissecting them and making some background out of it. I like stories that I can sink my teeth into lore and background stuff, so I hope you guys do to.**

**A bit of fluff here and there.  
Also Shout Outs!  
One to my good friend Purrich for making sure any OCness has not taken over the story. Check out his Community Rewrite where he find forgotten fic and offer them to people who wish to continue them.  
Another to Ghost501 who has graciously invited me to be part of his NetNavi Community staff. Also he provides some very funny stories about the NetNavi era of MegaMan.**

**And last but Definitely not least: Younger P.  
Who I must ask my readers.  
Keep reading his story... please?  
He's really good and I think he really deserves the reviews between posting so fast and dealing with college.  
Its not easy.**

**So like always, enjoy the story**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 22

Legends Among Us: Part IV

AKA: Merry Isle.

(Two Months and 13 days after the initiation)

By dawn the Brains were up and at em, either training with their Pokemon or helping themselves to breakfast. However Ash Ketchum stayed asleep, dozing softly after a rough night. A smile of contentedness was plastered on his face snuggling deeper into his pillow. Pikachu was patiently laying next to him. Ash normally didn't sleep in too much but for some reason his trainer was in a deep deep rest even forceful nudging by his tiny paws didn't seem to perturb the slumbering human.

Just when Pikachu was considering shocking his trainer awake, a blond head poked itself from the door.

"Yoish." Greta said very quietly to Ash's Pokemon. "Scott says leave the kid sleeping. But you guys should come out." Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Snorlax, Galie, Gabite, and with a little encouragement, Larvitar decided it would best have breakfast now and stealthily snuck out of the room.

Espeon was quick to greet Pikachu, the two friends bounded off with each other. Galie and Bulbasaur went to get into mischief, well more so with the Ice type, Bulbasaur was there to keep him in check.

Luckily for most of the Pokemon, Snorlax was still full from the vines and patiently watched Gabite naw down the food laid out for him and watching over the younger Pokemon to make sure he saves some for others. This snorlax learned that others need to eat too.

But this let little Larvitar alone on the ship. He stuck close to Pikachu and Espeon trying to be near yet not disrupt them. His rocky face was stretched with discomfort thinking he should've stuck with Ash in his room.

"Hey what are you doing here?" A voice came from his right. Looking up he saw the weird girl from last night and the man with fierce eyes. The little guy turned away from them already wanting to hide.

"Now is that what your trainer wants?" The fierce eyes man spoke. Larvitar dared made eye contact with him and was hit with a feeling of weakness. The man was right! Ash wanted him to get to know these people. And he knew from yesterday that his trainer had taken the time to show that the humans on this ship that they were nice and like Pokemon. His trainer and his mother wanted him to become brave and strong. Hiding away wouldn't get him stronger!

So with his all of his bravery, he managed to stare right into the stern man's eyes.

Lighting flashed between their eyes while Anabel looked unamused.

"Brandon your agitating the poor thing." She said shooting her mentor a unimpressed look.

Brandon in a rare moment smiled.

"Ah but I got him over his shyness." Anabel sighed; he had her there. This reminded her vaguely of the times Brandon brought to the Pyramid troubled Pokemon, and the therapy secessions they had with them. It was rewarding work and sometimes she missed that time with Brandon. But her own duties as a Battle Brain kept her from visiting on off-season. Not to mention the Pyramid King is always changing from location to location.

"Hey there." Anabel crouched down to eye level not to startle him; he saw the Pokemon egg from her room nestled safely in her backpack. The Larvitar regarded her warily, however his gaze seemed to have softened since last night. She smiled seeing she was getting somewhere.

"I wonder why your trainer is still snoozing on this beautiful day?" Her eyes glimmered something magical that drew the rock-type nearer. " Though I imagine that you wouldn't want to. Would you like to see it?"

There didn't seem to be any harm of saying yes and allowed himself to be led by the purple haired girl to the upper regions of the ship. He didn't feel so afraid or nervous anymore. They stopped and Anabel helped him up on a table so that he could see a wonderful sight.

The sun was still rising and the sky was a start contrast between a rainbow of colors. Deep pinks clouds and orange clashed with night blue and violet streaks across the sky with a yellow swirling center framing the sun.

It was very pretty and staring at made you feel like you could take the day and tomorrow and whatever challenges it may throw at you.

"Laarrvitar…" The little guy was amazed at this sight. He turned to the not so strange anymore girl. "Larvitar!"

Anabel smiled. "Your welcome. It is amazing isn't it?"

Red eyes widened seeing how naturally she responded to his precise words. "Tar? Larvi?"

Anabel blushed a bit.

"Ah right. Its been a while since i've been around a Pokemon who didn't know my ability. Yes. I understand you, to some extent. Mostly-" She tapped where his heart is at. "I can understand this most of all." Her tapping tickled his belly causing the rock type to laugh like the little child he is.

"Hey!" A voice called from not too far. On the deck a table was set out for the rest of the Frontier Brains and Scott. Their own Pokemon surrounding them munching on the morning meal. Greta was waving for her to come down. "C'mon! It's time for eat!"

"Let's go Larvitar." She gently took his paw into her own and lead him down, the Pokemon now feeling much better and had defiantly improved his behavior around humans. He sat down near Anabel and shot a glare to Brandon who deftly smirked at his attempt. And his time with the others was really fun! His time with his mamma, he did get to interact with some other Pokemon but he was always watched by her. Though he never minded it at the time, was rare that he got to experience a gathering of many creatures. It was like the time they stopped at those hot springs when he was newly hatched. But there was one thing missing…

"Ah our guest has decided to grace us with his presence." Tucker announced to the rest. Everyone turned to a very sleepy and tired looking Ash. His eyes were drooped down and his hair seemed even more wild hidden under his hat. Before said trainer could respond, his arms were wrapped around Greta's and Noland's who laughed and help marched the tired apprentice to the table.

They plonked him down next to Anabel not even acting when his head flopped on the table.

After a minute of Larvitar and Pikachu poking his leg and him not moving at all, Anabel become humorously worried.

"Pikapi?" The starter continued prodding his trainer before turning to Anabel. "Pi pika pi ka."

"What did he say?" A tired voice barely distinguishable due to it being muffed by hair. Ash didn't look up but this did confirm he was awake.

Anabel smirked. "He says he thinks your broken."

Ash groaned and dared to look up, wincing at the sunlight. "No I'm not broken. Just really tired."

"Rough night?"

"Thinking."

"Ah." That was all that was said. But by the tone of his voice the kid was still thinking.

"So Ash." Noland said offering some fresh baked breads. "have any ideas where we're going? The boat's nearly at the center of the ocean."

Ash lazily took a pumpkin seed bread before answering. "No clue. I just…"

"Can't describe it." Lucy said out of no where. Ash nodded.

"Been thinking all night. And so far… I'm going to do what I always do…" He said his face back down on the table.

"And…?"

"Go with the flow… or wind….or..zzzzzzzzz" The group smiled wearily. Looks like stress had finally caught up with the kid, though most where unaware of his talk with their boss last night.

Watching her partner, a though came across Anabel. "What if we ask the Pokemon?"

Spencer was intrigued. "What do you mean girl?" He said stroking his bread. He shot the other Frontier Brains a knowing look. The rest were intrigued.

Anabel seem to consider her words. "His words. Follow the flow or the wind. Anyone feel like having the pokemon decide our destination?"

Scott smiled mysteriously. "Now that is how the Battle Frontier works."

The rest of the Frontier Brains smiled and within secret compartments in their cloths pulled out very special Poke'balls, except Spencer who tapped his can several times and the top revealed his from it opening.

Noland didn't have any but his _friend_ was already coming down once he let out a piercing whistle.

Greta pulled out a watery blue one with red center.

Tucker pulled out three, one that had blue crystal, one that had bright blue top with white diamond shapes, and the last one was exactly the same except red replaced the blue.

Lucy pulled out one that was emerald green that had lines running down on it.

Spencer reaching for his cane, pulled out a identical sapphire lined poke'Ball and another with gold on top and silver on the bottom having GS on it.

Anabel got our her signature fire and lighting ones.

And Brandon pulled out the normal Poke'balls. The reason his didn't change is because the Regis prefer to stick with Brandon, if let in the wild they usually just stand still until disturbed.

It was just then Ash woke up to the sound of several Pokemon being released and the sight that rare in a million.

Legendaries zoomed out of the release white light. Articuno flew next to its friend Noland. Several of the lights went into the sea. The most impressive of the all was Rayquazza flying high to the sky from the emerald Poke'ball in the sky that fell down to Lucy.

"Pika…." Pikachu too was amazed. It was like looking into the events of the past to their encounters. He felt the wave of power cast over him from these mighty Pokemon. If he still the same Pikachu who first met Ash, he might have been overwhelmed. Looking over to Larvitar, Pikachu offered a comforting paw to help the child get over the initial awe.

Ash blinked once, twice and three times making sure he wasn't seeing things. This was unbelievable! And on the plus side he was no longer drowsy.

He looked towards Scott who seems to be completely at ease. "What's going on?"

"Well, we decided to go with your sage advice. Go with the flow. Let's just ride the wind." He stood up in front of the Frontier Brains and their pokemon.

"Alright. As I'm sure the human friends have told you, we're here to help this young lad to befriend a Legendary for the forces of good! But a roadblock has appeared so, we want your legendary input on where this young lad should go." He presented Ash who felt very awkward seeing many powerful Pokemon eyes landing on him.

He could see Raikou and Entei smiling at him, they gotten to know him better than the rest. And showing their trust they went over to the boy, the rest followed. The Regi trio from Brandon came after.

"Hey I haven't seen you guys since Sinnoh. How are you?" Ash asked knowing that the Golem Pokemon wouldn't answer and he was indeed correct when they loomed over completely impassive. Then familiar friendly faces showed themselves. Though Ash was sure that they weren't the same ones from three years ago.

Latias and Latios and Suicune from Tucker greeted him easily, the duo dragon pokemon seemed to sense his friendly aura and Suicune joined his kin and nodded respectively to Ash. He saw Articuno next to Noland acknowledge him, knowing how strong the trainer is.

"Hey." He said to the Legendaries. He wasn't sure how to act with them. Most times he encountered these pokemon where usually in life or death situations. So how to act around them? He then remembered Jed's words float into his mind.

_"Everyone needs a friend right? And if no one becomes their friend and show them good then all they will see in others is evil."_

So he'll treat them like a friend. "Nice to meet you guys." He would just act like himself. This is what becoming a Frontier Brain had done to him, regain himself and now that he has it, he wasn't going to lose himself again.

"I hope I can live up to the title that these guys have." He gained confidence seeing the beast listen to him. "I feel like I should have you guys decide for me. I mean you are able to sense this stuff better so I trust you." A feeling a gratitude washed over him and then the same feeling he felt the day previously also came. As if by force the heads of all the residents, both human and Pokemon alike, turned upward to see lo and behold, Ho-Oh was above them, using the same trail of bright shimmering colors that lead to destiny. Next to it was Rayquaza seeming to loop around the rainbow and following the lead of the elder legendary.

Lucy's next words seemed to sum this up. "Well… that was… mystical."

A there was silence on the ship.

"Gabite!" All heads shaped to attention to the Cave Pokemon, staring on the end of the boat staring angrily at the flying legendaries. His thin arms were spread far out and his body squat. And you can say that his behavior was similar to that of a bagon.

"GABITE!" And he lept off the ledge in a vain attempt to be like Gacrhomp and once again forgot that no he can't fly or swim either.

"Pika!" Ash and Pikachu rushed quicker than others could react and leaped off to save their mind numbly thick pokemon. Leaping over the ledge Ash managed to grab the surprised falling like a stone Gabite in midair while Pikachu kept on Ash's shoulder. Expecting to submerge deep in the ocean he was surprised when only a foot in the water he met a rubber like surface and was brought above the surface of water.

A orca like sound greeted him.

Kyogre!

"Manaphy!" A little blue pokemon jumped out of the sea and on to Kyogre's back to greet the human and his Pokemon.

Ash was ecstatic to see another face he (kinda) knew.

"Ah good job Kyogre. Thank you for catching them."

"Oi get up here you silly boys!" Greta called down to them before throwing a rope latter for them.

Alright." He recalled Gabite back. With Pikachu firmly on his shoulder, Ash began his climb up. Manaphy hitched a ride too. Brandon and Noland helped him tumble back on deck and he saw the smiling faces of the Frontier Brains. The chuckled at his heroic act and that he was soaping wet. The Brains helped him on his feet and wrapped him and Pikachu in towels. Manaphy however was tucked in Greta's arms. The sight reminded him of May when the manaphy egg hatched. And once again reminded him of how that Pokemon pirate misused the legendary and if it wasn't for him and the Pokemon ranger, the poor thing would've been still in that awful man's grasp.

"Is she yours?" He asked the Battle Arena Tycoon.

"Yep!" Greta said proudly. "Manaphy was the first Legendary I befriended. Don't let her small looks fool you though, she loves the challenge of a good match! Gave me a good beating before I was finally up to standards."

"Mana mana!"

Ash and Pikachu smiled. "You said your first, you have another?"

Greta reached in her battle jacket. "Yes but he wouldn't be able to fit and not to mention he wouldn't feel comfortable out here in the sea." She showed him a red poke'ball with lines running down it. The thing seemed to emit waves of heat.

"Groudon?" He guessed.

Greta nodded. "Oish! Yes. Too bad though, he really wanted me to challenge sensei's Kyogre."

She motioned to Spencer who seemed to be communicating to the great Water-type below. She was talking about her time as a initiate, Spencer must've been her teacher to becoming a Frontier Brain. It was a funny thought, the old man trying to control someone as full of energy as Greta. But then again, the battle in Spencer's jungle reminded the young man about how much life the geezer had in him.

"Briiiiiiiiiii!" A celebi appeared and perched herself on Spencer's shoulders, the little fairy whispered in his ear something that the old man seemed to understand.

"Now that's strange." Spencer said with a chuckle. "Celebi says she seems to know you." He told Ash. "The most interesting part is that she seems to know from both the past and the future."

"Really? I don't know about the future but I have met celebi's in the past." He held out his arms for the spirt who flew in his arms and tried to tell him. As by habit he turned to Anabel for translation.

Her brows furrowed. "She says something about…. Zorua? Wait how do you know about Zorua? And Zoroark for that matter?"

Ah that's right, Anabel is from the same region those two came from.

Ash turned to Celebi. "Ah so your the one who Kodai was after. Nice to see you again." He petted her leafy head.

"Brrriiiiii!" The Time Travel Pokemon leaned at his touch

Spencer seemed to look at concern at grass legendary. "Hmmm next time you're in trouble you should come get me. I assume this Kodai was a man who wished to use her time traveling powers"

Ash frowned remembering his disgust remembering how Kodai ruined Crown City's beauty for the selfish desire to see into the future. "Yeah. But he's safely behind bars now."

"Well that's good. Your going to have to tell us about that adventure. Come Celebi."

"Bii." The time Travel Pokemon happily followed behind the shaman.

The speakers on the ship boomed to life. _"Attention Battle Brains, CEO, and apprentice, this is your Captain Noland speaking. Apparently due to the legendary Ho-Oh appearing we now have a semi set course to our unknown destination. So please keep you Pokemon on deck or near the sea as we prepare to head on! Thank you."_ The Battle Factory Head was already at the wheel making the engines on the boat push faster following the rainbow trail.

Now it was a good time to start training Larvitar for the battle to come. He looked for his Rock-type to find him now chowing down on his breakfast, next to Anabel's Entie. He called to him and the little guy came bounding over, obviously more at ease on the ship than yesterday. "Alright Larvitar." Ash said crouching down to pet the little guy. "We're going to be doing some conditioning today; its going to be a bit tough on ya, so are you okay with that? "

"Lar larvitar." The Rock-type was supped up to go! Training with Ash? That's what he's been waiting for, for ages. So to the steel battle arena on the outer reaches of the ship, Ash called another one of his Pokemon to challenge Larvitar against.

"Bulba bulbasaur." A grass type would be sure to put a challenge on a duel Rock and Ground type. He set them up in position and walked around as to choose what he should do next.

Pikachu and Espeon were the first to come see the oncoming match.

_'Hmmmm…. I guess the best choice of action is just to see Larvitar's move set and his basic power.' _ This seemed to be a good idea. Bulbasaur has proven more than enough times to take a hit. However it seemed another Pokemon had the same idea.

"Regiigigiigigi." A tamed Registeel appeared! And took the place in front of Ash's Bulbasaur. The grass type took offense to this seemingly yelling at the Legendary.

"Regigigigshshsh." The red blinking dots seem to reply however it looked like Bulbasaur failed to understand a word said from the confused look on his face. "Saur?"

_'Is it possible that normal Pokemon can't understand what the Regi's say?' _Ash thought to himself. Could be.

"Hey Bulbasaur. Its okay, it just seems this guy wants to help kay? Come over here." The bulb pokemon walked over grumbling along the way. Registeel seem to take this as a getting to be prepared to battle; crouching down to brace itself.

"Larvitar." The Rock Skin Pokemon snapped to attention. "I want you to show me your moves. And, I want you to do that by hitting Registeel" He pointed to the legendary. "as hard as you can. So please do not hold back."

"TAR!" Larvitar 'roared' as loud as he could wanting to make his trainer proud, so with out command charged head first at Registeel. The first move Crunch though hardly making a dent or impact on the steel type seemed to have moved the larger pokemon back by a inch or two be the force of Larvitar latching himself to Registeel's arm. Which itself is impressive.

"Wow! Larvitar! Great job!" Ash cheered on wanting to see more. From the corner of his eye he saw Lucy and Brandon come and take a seat to watch the battle but ignored them. His focus now was on his Pokemon. Edging the Rock Skin Pokemon on, Larvitar prepared for another attack. He then started to glow a red power and from the sea no less shards of rock of Stone Edge came to surround Larvitar before a thrust of his arms made them hurtle towards Registeel where they clanked off, making a barely visible scratch. But Ash was deterred. It was progress in his eyes.

Noland, and Spencer came who had Celebi on his shoulder, sat down next to the Pike Queen and Pyramid King.

"Show me what else you got!" Ash encouraged. Larvitar once again focused his power and out of thin air dark rings of energy where shot off and impacted the legendary, this being Hidden Power. With a cloud of smoke, Registeel still stood strong but was even further from where it first started on the arena.

The rest had joined in already, Scott included, curious to see the power of this recently captured Pokemon.

Now Ash wanted to see the last move, However upon revealing it, it was a sound that Ash could have gone the rest of his life without hearing.

Everyone covered their ears when a high frequency screech pierced the air. Pupils dilated and fatigued increased as the screech went on.

Thankfully it died down and a proud looking Larvitar looked at the pained pokemon and humans and even Registeel had been brought down on his knees covering up the red sensors in a vain effort to cover the noise distress.

"giiiiigiiiiiii…" It sounded like it was panting but then once again got up. Slowly the humans and other pokemon got up looking dazed and uncomfortable.

Ash gave a begirding respectful look to Larvitar yet his eyes held much exasperation for the over-did Screech.

"Right. Good job…. but please don't do that again on this ship." He clutched his ears to emphasis this.

Larvitar blushed sheepishly, trying to look innocent by looking away. "Larrr…"

"Pika pika….chu." Pikachu who had toppled from Ash's shoulders got up to smoothly escort the blushing persudo legendary from the soon to be wraith of the other pokemon and humans.

Eventually everyone got up looking bewildered at the power of the status affecting move. "Aheheheh…. sorry." Ash said sheepishly when they looked at him. "Why don't we all… take a break?" He speedily slid to his room for a break and to avoid any unnecessary confrontation.

* * *

The rest of the day's adventure was spent with the rest of the Frontier Brains avoiding the outside whenever Ash decided to train Larvitar. While everyone agreed this little kid had a lot of power to him, but that Screech seemed to tear off layers of strength that it wasn't worth seeing him in action all the time. During training every once in a while Ash would look up to see Ho-Oh leading them by colors and Rayquaza still following from behind. He wasn't sure where they were going as there was no land in sight, only endless blue with the occasional Kyogre breaching the ocean. His analysis of Larvitar's true power was still incomplete despite of the numerous training exercises he had put the little guy through, however he was able to make this assessment.

While Larvitar did hold tremendous power, his stamina was feeble at best. The Rock-Skin Pokemon got tuckered out faster then the rest of his team and that worried Ash. From what Anabel has told him and from personal experience, battles against legendaries are long and harsh. Even though he will be battling with a full team, the risk was too great to leave alone.

So a rest after lunch, during the heat of the day. He ordered a relaxed Larvitar to do something the Pokemon was vehemently against.

"Larvitar I'm serious." Ash tone was low and commanding. It wasn't a tone he like use with most of his Pokemon but Larvitar was being stubborn.

Said pokemon had his arms cross and was glaring at his trainer before sharply turning his head away. "TAR!" He all but barked at his trainer. Anyone who had half a mind could see that the Rock type was saying no to Ash who was asking him to hit his own trainer; thinking his trainer was stupid for wanting to be harmed and that Ash shouldn't be so stupid.

Ash sighed. He wasn't getting through was he?

It was indeed talking like a kid, probably what the trainer himself guessed how he acted as a kid. He had tried asking, being nice, serious and now commanding and the Pokemon had still yet to budge from his decision.

Time for a different tactic. Crouching down so he made eye contact and spoke in a much gentler voice. "Larvitar." He made his red eyes look at him. "Just like you, I have too gotten stronger and I can handle these attacks okay? I'll tell you if I'm starting to hurt. I mean, all my other Pokemon have been training with me. C'mon it would be fun to see at first hand how strong you've gotten." Ash grinned largely not notching Larvitar being intimidated by some recently developed yet still dull canines.. But the Rock-type shook this off and grudgingly agreed to Ash's proposal.

And they did indeed train, Larvitar, thankfully kept himself from using Screech. The purpose of this exercises was to keep up the speed so Larvitar would extend his stamina. However easier said than done, as though Ash and eventually Pikachu traded off to mix things up but Larvitar proved to be pretty accurate with his attacks, landing them more often than not. Ash had gotten the brunt of the damage but refused to say anything to his Pokemon. However after a round that consisted of using most of his attacks several times, Larvitar was at his limit.

They trained with the rest of his Pokemon until night. And the journey continued past the moon and on the sea with the rainbow that glowed in the sky.. And it had taken two more days of journeying till they were able to see the region however thanks to Galie who thought it would be funny to have the ship be on full speed throughout the night and lead the cruise yacht to the other side of a region that was evident in the morning.

Noland was the first to wake up, and silently panicked seeing the speed on full throttle and Ho-Oh was no where to be seen. He quickly called Scott for orders about what to do next and the portly man seemed to debate about the course of action. Of course this whole reason for this trip should be consulted as well.

So Ash was dragged up by Noland's Rhyperior up to the wheel. The tired trainer was slightly bruised from yesterday and weary for expending his energy from training. He looked around the coast slightly recognizing it, and shook his head to wake up more.

"Still tired sport?" Scott asked seeing the dark rings under the young man's eyes.

Ash let out a huge yawn. "Yeah… Pikachu and the rest are still sleeping despite I had them put in the ship's Pokemon center to heal for a while. Wish I could do the same."

He looked around the area again thinking about where they were. "So… what's up?"

Noland answered first. "Well apparently our ship was going a bit too fast for the course of the night. So we ended up here…" He gestured to the coast. "Ho-Oh is not in sight as well so I guess our destination… kinda odd though if you ask me."

"So Ash what do you think?" Scott asked.

Ash blinked bearably trying to register the words in his tired brain. "Meh… I guess this is the spot since we ended up here… But…. I don't know what to do…." He was still very tired and the older men knew this.

Until Scott came up with an idea. "Hey how about we have a relaxing day before Ash has his battle? Maybe we can find a place to hang out here."

Noland agreed and started to look on the map for any place they could quickly go to that sounded fun. One place sounded good, it was two hours away but had an attraction on it for boats and such what from the sea.

He looked up the coordinates and set the ship to sail for the small little island.

* * *

And from that small little island, the Aura Philosopher groaned. "Gosh freaking dangit." Jed slapped his forehead. "I hate it when I'm right." From the docks he sensed the incredible aura of Ash and thankfully no one else did because the rest of the community didn't know what to look for. And he just got here an hour ago!

Jed from the docks called out to a worker. "Oi Mac! Can you give me a small ride right now?" He asked another teen his age who was a worker on the docks.

A light brown haired teen responded, telling Jed to hop aboard a handy speed boat. As Jed had a pair of binoculars out and gave directions to his friend, steering them towards the larger yacht ahead.

Mac had asked Jed what was the deal with this, and the Aura Philosopher decided to tell his friend that who he was meeting was very important and told Mac not to tell anyone what he was about to sense right now and stay in the boat.

Mac was going to say something until he was hit with a wave of immense aura it left him speechless. The pilot was also an aura user, a more powerful one then Jed but preferred the sea to using his unique skill set.

The guy nodded to his friend and slowed down the boat for the ship's captain to see them.

And thankfully Noland did see them, having the yacht come to a reasonable slow speed and sent a ladder down to them. Jed nodded to Mac and headed up the ship. He was lucky that Noland recognized Jed from Anabel's introduction and only raised an eyebrow when Jed requested to see Ash. Ash who had been sitting in the room with the wheel but saw Jed and headed down before the two men finished.

"Hey Jed what's up?"

"Pika pika?" The two asked.

Jed simply smiled while fingering an object in his pocket. "Yo Ash! I'm just here to here to welcome you folks to Merry Isle!" He laughed patting the younger kid's back. "And I'm here to give you the welcoming gifts of everyone new who visits. Souvenirs!" From one pocket he took out seven necklaces that had a small blue shards at the end. He handed these to Noland. And from his other pocket he took out another leather necklace with a crystal on it. This he personally put on Ash.

"This neckless is particularly special Ash." Jed said. "If you keep this on you, you'll be acknowledged by the Aura Community as an already taught and accomplished apprentice. I would appreciate it if you didn't take it off as that would be an insult to me." Jed laughed.

Ash,blissfully unaware of any alternative motive, was glad of the consideration of being an official part of the aura community and tucked the crystal inside his shirt. "Thanks Jed."

Jed offered to lead Noland's ship to the proper large ship docking area with the speed boat. They agreed. Once there, the Frontier Brains were treated to a sight of a huge theme park covered in hues of blues and silver, it almost looked like a castle if it wasn't for the giant ferris wheel in the background along with a lucario themed roller coaster.

There were a lot of tourist around the place, there was even several battle on the outside arenas for trainers who wanted to train. Jed explained that most of Merry Isle income comes from this amusement park. Many people from Sinnoh come here for vacation. When Ash asked how come he never heard of it during his time in the region Jed replied for this.

"Have you ever taken time to look at the brochures?" Answer: no our hero hadn't.

Walking up, the ticket booth employee saw the Aura Philosopher, they chatted for a bit and the employee got out some tickets for for the group. They were free, a gift from the white haired teen. He offered the tickets but held Ash and Anabel up.

"I want to show you something special. Since your my friends, you're allowed." Jed said.

"Uh okay." Ash said confused by what Jed said was special.. he kinda wanted to go on the rides.. Anabel however was excited. She understood what Jed was showing them was an aura community. A year ago, as they discussed Jed's home, and apparently most Aura Communities prefer not to be in the public eye.

So he showed them to a rocky wall, most of the theme park was surrounded by small mountains, some of the lower levels had moss growing on the landscape. Jed drew some back to reveal a carved passage. It was obviously man made.

After a decent walking distance, light started to shine and revealed a french structure village with on several hills. It was fairly small in retrospect to most towns in the mainland however according to Jed, this was one of the largest aura communities in the world.

Ash, Pikachu and Anabel looked around amazed and they saw some young children being taught by an elder woman in robes with aura. She held a light purple sphere of aura and showed it to the children.

Jed began to explain that at the age of five, children would began their aura training with basic education. At the age of five their aura was not that strong and would take longer, a year or so to gain some form of control.

"Wait I thought it would take three months at average to gain control?" Ash asked remembering Jed's words previously.

"Oh good you were listening! Haha... but ah, right. Well I meant for people your age. The older you are the easier it is… due to age allows more discipline. When I was five, it took at least one year and three months to learn it" By age of ten like all kids, they got to pick their starter Pokemon, once again explaining the strange phenomenon of Merry Isle that had Pokemon born with ability to use Aura Sphere.

Then he explained that the people in robes, which Ash, Pikachu and Anabel saw all walking casually around town, that they were the Elders, people who are dedicated to study the strangeness of Merry Isle and the origins of the aura. They are the teachers of the community and so are respected.

"Wait, if they study aura then what do? You say you're an aura philosopher?" Anabel asked.

"Oh… I study outside of the island. I pick up rumors of aura and I also look out for other aura users who are not aware of their ability. So I either train them for a bit or I send them here. I also look for some artifacts conceding us and see if there are any strange phenomenons like ours. And if I do, I report back here."

"So did you?" Ash asked.

Jed looked embarrassed. "Uh… no… I came back because I kinda missed my folks." That was part of the truth, but the other half had to deal with with the boy in front of him. Of course he would in no way say this out loud.

Just then an elderly man with a white fuzz on his face and glasses came up to Jed.

"Ah… why if it isn't Jed… I didn't expect you to be here this season." The man said. The white haired teen snapped to attention and greeted the his superior.

"Master Sapp!" He bowed in respect. "I came just to meet my folks and report ah… my own student I guess." He turned to Ash. "This is Ash Ketchum. I recently taught him the basics of Aura… He has _very_ special aura." The emphasis when over our hero's heads but Sapp seemed to get the message. "And this is Anabel my friend who I told you about last year, who has the special ability."

"I see. Well then I shall see you later this afternoon." Master Sapp said patting Jed on the shoulder . The younger man got the idea. The old man turned to Ash and Anabel. "I hope you two and that delightful Pikachu have fun in this place. We're an old town and not that advance but I'm sure some of the kids here would love to see Pikachu show off his moves."

"Pika pika!" Pikachu blushed brighter red checks for the compliments.

When Master Sapp left Jed explained a few things.

"Master Sapp was my Elder who kinda taught me and stuck with me with despite my weak aura when I was a kid. So I respect him a lot."

As Jed continued to show them around, they soon had a following of kids trailing behind the trio with Pikachu. All of them were staring curiously at Pikachu and Ash. It seemed like Pikachu were not that common. So being Ash, he held Pikachu out for the kids to pet. One kid asked Ash if he was the Legendary Aura Guardian who had a Pikachu that defeated Spirtomb; this man came from this island no less.. It surprised both the electric type and Ash hearing this, they recollected the memories of resealing the spiritomb they accidentally released but thought it was better to say no.

The kids seemed disappointed, but when Anabel offered to have a battle with Pikachu to show off the mouse pokemon's moves.

They seemed to ignore, Jed but the Aura Philosopher didn't care to mind.

The little ones ooo'ed and awe'ed at Volt Tackle and were confused when that Pikachu couldn't use Aura Sphere. Anabel explained that Ash and her starters came form different regions, which aura was not a common thing to be found in other pokemon. Immediately the children whisked Anabel and Ash and Pikachu away to see all the Aura Pokemon in town, Jed wanted to come with them, but the trainers were already laughing with the kids, enjoying their enthusiasm.

Jed sighed. So he went to his master's apartment. Master Sapp's aura was easy to detect and so saw that the old man was already in there.

Sapp didn't even turned to his former student. "So you think he as the Legendary Aura Guile Hideout is after?"

Jed scowled. "Think? I know. You should see it without the aura dampener I put on him. I already secured it so Guile Hideout will have a harder time track Ash." That aura dampener being Ash's new accessory. Jed's own special creation. Now no one should be able to tell that the kid had an inhuman amount of power stored in him, thus making Jed's life easier and Guile Hideout's difficult.

Master Sapp was about to say something but Jed cut him off. "Yeah I know. I am not allowed to be in direct contact anymore and I should best let him be." The elder man looked surprised. That is not what he was going to say. He explained to Jed that probably be best to guard and stick with the young man.

Jed snorted disrespectfully.

"Really and tie that kid down knowing he will be constantly haunted by a deranged mad aura user for the rest of his life? Yeah no." He turned sharp eyes to the old man. "Unlike most of the elders, _sir_, I actually see the legendary aura as a human. And Ash has big dreams that don't involve being burdened by being a target. I am the one who is suppose to prevent Guile Hideout from getting Ash."

Sapp nodded. "Despite of being born with an weak aura, you have been born with the only ability that can resist Guile Hideout's mind control."

Jed rolled his eyes. "Right... Mind Guard. The irony of my life nearly kills me just thinking about it."

Guile Hideout was born in Merry Isle as a prodigal guardian with very strong aura with the dangerous ability to influence the minds of the weak-willed. However like all stories go, the man who became the masked villain soon got the ego that he believed he should control the populace and have aura community become an army to conquer it all.

And like the cliche, the elders and the island banned him, not only because of this ridiculous idea but also for the fact Guile Hideout wanted to control who ever had the Legendary Aura through amplifying his mind control to take over the world by using the ability to end all abilities that the Legendary aura is blessed with.

Magnetism. It was the ability that drew people and Pokemon, legendary or regular, in. It made you trust the person, be intrigued to the person. Even the most stubborn of personalities would eventually want to let their guard down. This was the effect when the person was unaware they had such an ability.

If the Legendary Aura user should, heaven forbid, become aware of it and decides to strengthen it through his already formidable aura, then most people would have no resistance to follow the pull of Magnetism.

And as you could see, how Ash could easily befriend both Pokemon and Humans alike, he had it. And was thankfully utterly dense to this.

Now don't think it means Ash doesn't make friends, once they get past the pull then Ash does genuinely has friends. Most people are unaware of the pull at first but then really got to know the kid.

Luckily Jed was aware.

Having the ability Mind Guard, prevents anyone tampering with his mind, that means he is the perfect candidate for tracking down Guile Hideout and prevent any sort of mind controlling catastrophe involving Magnetism.

Doesn't meant he liked it.

Ever since he was ten, Jed had to travel from region to region, trespassing and hacking into networks and organizations to find the elusive villain and to prevent him from finding out how ever had signs of the Legendary Aura. It had been an endless game of hide and seek for over 8 years.

And Jed thanks his lucky stars for Anabel leading him to Ash.

Now the only thing he had to was put an end of Guile Hideout.

* * *

Pikachu was loving the attention given to him by both the adults and children. He wasn't vain, not in the slightest. But there was something of being coddled over to what he is was. However Ash had caution his electric type not to show off too much. After all this place was suppose to not be seen to public eye, so showing off a huge lightning bolt in the middle of no where would attract unnecessary attention.

The people asked about his aura and where he was from. They even asked about his family, and though Ash said he got it from his mother, he didn't really know his mother's maiden name.

Anabel on the other hand, stuck with the kids and the other Pokemon. She wanted to know what the kids wanted to do once they turned ten and asked the pokemon what it was like to have an move that most pokemon wouldn't have.

Most kids talked about a person named Riley who is said to be born with a strong aura. If Anabel recalled correctly, Ash may have mentioned that person once or twice. He seemed to be a role model to the kids but seems to gone to Iron Island to a retreat of some sort.

Interesting.

Jed soon joined them, apologizing for leaving them to the hands of strangers. To make it up, he offered Ash and Anabel to see the library with him. To their amazement it was the biggest structure on the island. Containing at least four wings on the sides and three floors.

"Here is all the history of aura users, abilities, techniques, events and records of all aura users across the world. Most of this information comes from the scouts at times or old archives found in ancient ruins. However we do receive copies of what other aura communities have found. Honestly I think its mostly made up of a bunch of random theories that mean squat" Jed explained as they walked across rows and rows of old tomes, scrolls and even what looked like newly printed books.

Now Ash had never been big on reading, why read about things when you can try them out yourself? It's a lot more fun that way. But seeing how much dedication put into this building, it made him kinda excited. Like… there was a big mystery behind all of this waiting to be undiscovered! It kinda smelled like adventure.

"Kinda cool eh Pikachu?" He asked his buddy. Pikachu let out a noise of agreement. Even though he couldn't understand human writing very well, it would be nice to learn for at least this place. "Pika chu Pipika?"

He asked Anabel something but the girl seemed busy staring off at the titles the passing books. All of them were unknown authors and some written in Unown.

She quickly grabbed a book and began to skim through it. It looked like it had medieval illustrations in them, hinting that aura users existed for quiet a while. Quickly she put it back and rushed up to the guys who had been waiting for her.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly. It seemed like no one minded though. It looked liked they were heading to one of the booths in the library, sitting there was a middle aged woman, wearing a different pair of robes and sashes from the Elders. She gave Jed a disinterest look, but payed attention to Ash before dawning to a expecting look knowing why they were here.

"A new guardian to register?" She asked Jed.

"Yeah… he's my student."

The lady snorted. "Never thought someone like you would be able to teach aura Stone."

Jed looked away blushing in embarrassment but not before shooting a glare at the woman's snide remark.

Anabel looked confused at the remark and watching Jed face she couldn't help but felt a bit angry at the woman. Ash and Pikachu had the same reaction too.

The woman seemed oblivious to their hostility. She reached down under her desk, pulling up a dull white crystal. She set it down with a thud and ordered Ash to put some aura on it. Jed explained that it was like giving a fingerprint, so that elders would be able register Ash as an actual aura user for the achieves. And Ash did what he told; his brows furrowed seeing it was a bit more difficult pulling the power than what he remembered but he shrugged it off as simply being out of practice. Soon the crystal started glow a pleasant blue, Ash's aura. Immediately the woman slide it aside, and handed out a paper form. It was basic information, name, age, if you are a trainer or not, starter Pokemon, home region, whether or not you were born in an aura community and had who his instructor was.

And once done the rude lady dismissed them returning to the other forms in front of her. Jed signed. "Sorry about that…" He looked away. "She's always like… ehh." Something in his voice sounded false but the two younger kids decided not to question it. They were given a tour by the older teen traveling to all the sections and floors. It was mind boggling how many books in here. The higher they got in the library the newer the books became. Pikachu noticed a archive that was dated a recent time and if his little brain was right, it was around the time Jed should've been five.

Pi ka PikaPi ka!" He tugged on his trainers hair, pointing him in the direction of the book. Ash raised an eyebrow curious to what Pikachu was trying to say. His was oblivious to his Pokemon's intentions but picked it up anyway. Jed and Anabel were away looking at more books, not seeing him stop. He opened the book only to have Pikachu perch on his arm and started to flip through the pages. While Pikachu's knowledge of the human language was limited, he knew what a S looked like and flipped to those pages. But to that he was clueless. Ash then knew why his starter wanted and began to go through the list of registered Aura users through the book before getting to the category of the last name Stone. And there was Jed looking five years old smiling at the camera. It had his basic information, father, mother, grandfather and so on. But what was strange is that what was next to the input 'Aura Magnitude' was a 2. He had a sinking feeling that what this number was wasn't good when all the other number so far had been 5's and 8's. He looked down to see what looked like notes written by other Elders

'_Weak Aura, last to master most basic techniques.'_

_'First 2 aura magnitude in the last half of century, thank goodness it wasn't a 1.'_

_'Violent to other classmates. Could be a result in lack of discipline in Aura. Research to see if that is affecting his power'_

_'Displays vivid amounts of jealousy towards others, aura turns darker when having these emotions. Thankfully clear indicator when he should be removed from class for the day.'_

_'Had to be held back a grade due to low scores in aura. All other academic subjects seemed at least above average.'_

Ash's brow furrowed seeing these comments. Who did these people think they were? Just because someone had a weak aura, doesn't mean they don't have potential. Look at him! Ash remembered he was absolutely clueless about being a trainer when he was ten and now he was joining one of the strongest league of trainers there ever was. This was not a fair way to treat people.

"Pika… pi…" Pikachu had the same look as his trainer. It reminded him how evolved Pokemon sometimes treated pokemon who don't or can't evolve. It was discrimination in its raw form.

Apparently, this Aura community isn't really a paradise the folks here pretended it to be. It was still stuck to the past, where being biased and shallow still persisted. That would explain why most people instantly taken a liking to Ash… Jed said he had a strong aura but that was just a stupid reason why to like anyone.

Well this was aggravating. Next time, he'd take the theme park rather than this.

* * *

But time was to for the end today. The group decided to spend the night at the hotel. It had hot springs….

So what will happen?

Ash felt awkward wrapping the towel around his waist and fixing another on Pikachu for cosmetics sakes and washcloth on the electric type's head.

"Pikaaaaa!" The starter was excited to relax in the hot water after the long trip and hard training. It would be a good refresher for the upcoming battle. And logically the springs were separated far by gender and thus didn't lead to any… uncomfortable situations.

Still Ash was going in with the rest of the men of the Battle Frontier and none of them were his age. Oh... well?

With a sigh Ash sucked it up and headed with Pikachu to what he hopefully hope for a relaxing night. The rest of the men, Scott included were already relaxing, Noland and Tucker and Scott in deep conversation and Brandon and Spencer on the side were simply relaxing. Ash had to stop himself from laughing when he saw the Spencer's beard wrapped in towels. No one seemed to acknowledge his presence so the trainer eased himself and Pikachu in the spring. He and his Pokemon let out a sigh of relief as the heat eased out muscles that had been tensed up for some time. It seemed to ease his spirit too, Ash needed this, as tomorrow was going to need everything, from his body to his spirit, at full strength. Pikachu needed to relax and Ash debated to bring his other Pokemon out, sans Gabite and Larvitar (they had ground type after all) after his soak to help them re-energize. But how to get some relaxation into his ground-types?

"Pi-kaaa pi-kaaa…" Ash smiled watching Pikachu floating contently on the water. All his Pokemon deserved this. They had been working so hard and struggling along side of their trainer to help achieve dream. He should get out and bring his friends back afterwards.

"So Ash? How is the relationship going?" Noland asked out of the blue. The other men showed interest, they semi huddled around like excited woman over gossip.

The trainer glared at his future co-workers and sank further in the water in defiance. Though Ash had just a beginner in a relationship and still had no clue what to do, the boy had enough sense not to blab something like that off. It was kinda a private matter. Besides… what if he said something wrong? Ash didn't trust his words because they didn't seem to coincide what his mind was thinking when it came to girls… or one girl actually.

Scott chuckled. "Aw looks like someone's shy. Don't worry Ash, we've all gone through this beautiful stage of life." The men smiled at each other mischievously.

Enough was enough.

"I'm getting out now." Ash said not waiting for any protest quickly went back into the room with Pikachu right on his heels.

Trying not to slam the door shut, the duo let out a sigh of relief to get away from this situation. He could hear the voices from back calling him a spoil sport but he could live with that. It was a shame though that nearly all his hot springs experiences all ended up ruined so soon. But at least it wasn't as bad as being stranded in the cold with his pokemon while Brock and Misty had the luck to stay warm during that blizzard.

"Hmph. Lucky punks." He muttered to himself. His pokemon were waiting in his room, Ash and Pikachu showing up in the traditional robes and telling everyone to get ready to head out in back for their time. While dressing in some comforting cloths though, Ash noticed himself in the mirror and noticed the difference between the period of only a couple of months had done to him.

It wasn't the extra height or mass he put on but more of the scars Ash had gotten from the incident in the forest. Like snakes, parts of his skin that were discolored, molted around his bare back and torso. It looked like each of the beams tried to twist around him from opposing directions, and while it didn't hurt anymore it was still startling to see.

With a heavy sigh Ash quietly sat down on his bed trying to digest the information. His pokemon were quiet though and he felt his smaller ones come near him on the furniture while the bigger Pokemon kept by his legs.

Melancholy was in the air. The weight of tomorrow was soon on their shoulders. Two months ago, all Ash thought becoming a Frontier Brain was only switching places on the battle field. But it was so much more than that. It was about working with others, and helping them out. It was about striving to keep your opponent and yourself along with your Pokemon getting strong. It was about making difficult choices both on the battle field and in real life. And most importantly it was about opening new horizons to discover.

Ash had regained his confidence once lost during Sinnoh.

He helped his Pokemon to reach further within their potential and gained new ones that he would help gain that as well.

He had learned to use of his mysterious power that was proving to be helpful to those around him.

He had made new friends both in and outside the Battle Tower.

He (Ash blushed) discovered the joys of having someone, besides your starter pokemon, be really special to you.

And most importantly he was on a path.

The path only a few could take but the weight of the world rested on it. To help bond the Pokemon world with the human world. To erase the feelings of prejudice and discrimination and to defend the weak against those who would abuse power.

And all of this felt right in his heart.

"I may not be the same person I was two months ago," He said out loud so all his Pokemon could hear. They listened attentively; even childish Gabite was still. "But I think I now have a better idea who Ash Ketchum is." He stared at all of his team's eyes. The strength that bled through. He and his team were conduits, they drew strength from each other and both sides of the battle field they depended on him as much as he did on them. And Ash knew he would not want to be retaught this lesson again so tucked it deep in his heart with all his friendships he made. This was his duty as a trainer to remember this and put it to good use.

He did keep his promise with his Pokemon, taking them to the hot springs. However it was awkward to ask the receptionist for a bucket of hot sand. Luckily that hasn't been the first request as some people did have ground types. Gabite and Larvitar started to make a mess, the two rambunctious toddlers. But still Ash had fun and made sure to keep Brock's breeding tip to loosen up his Pokemon's muscles to get them lose.

"Galie….." His ice type enjoyed his horns begin rubbed. Ash smiled but gritted his teeth, his hands were freezing! But it was worth the effort seeing his Pokemon smile like this.

"Hey." A dull voice came from behind. Ash turned to see Lucy of all people. He didn't hide his confusion wondering why on earth would the most offsetting of all the Frontier Brains would come and see him. Her piercing gaze made him uncomfortable. He shooed off Galie before addressing the Pike Queen. "Um… Hello?" He was unsure how to address her. She was a little bit like Paul but she was older than him, so Ash couldn't speak so loosely.

"Where's Brock?" She cut straight to the point ignoring the younger trainer's discomfort.

"Wah?" The question caught him off guard. "Uh…" Thought hard wondering _where_ was Brock exactly. The former Rock-Type gym leader had last headed off to follow his new dream of becoming a Pokemon Doctor. For all Ash knew Brock could be in Pewter City or in some other region.

"I'm waiting." Lucy said ominously.

Ash sweated in nervousness. "I… uh. Well, me and Brock went separate ways after after our adventure in Sinnoh. He said he wanted to be a Pokemon Doctor and he could've either gone back to his home town at Pewter City. But.. it has been almost three months since I last saw him. So he could be in a separate region for studying. I really don't know." He said nervously and somewhat apologetically. For some reason Ash couldn't shake off the feeling that Lucy really wanted to see Brock again. Could it be that puberty thing of being more aware? Hmmm, he'll have to ask Anabel about this.

"Ah that is a noble career." Ash noticed the faint blush on her face and something clicked in his mind.

_'No way…_' He couldn't stop the slight grin that appeared on his face. Did… did Lucy _like_ Brock? The first girl in all his adventures that _liked_ Brock was LUCY, the ruthless Pike Queen?

"What is the world coming to?" He said to himself.

"What was that?" Lucy snapped.

"Oh…um nothing. Nothing at all." Ash quickly said tucking the knowledge in his head for later. "But ah sorry I couldn't be more help. But next time I see Brock I'll defiantly contact ya and tell you were he is." Ash promised.

For this, Lucy smiled. "You're a good kid. After you gain your legendary we should battle sometime."

Ash grinned feral and pounded his fist in his hand. "Sure thing. I would love to fight against you battle style again. It would be fun." Lately he had been getting the thirst to try out his new skill against the Battle Frontier again. Maybe near the end of season when their were less trainers he would go against them again.

But soon the moon raised higher signaling the end of this peaceful day, foreboding the inevitable battle to come tomorrow.

* * *

It was just before the dawn of the day. Ash, Pikachu and the rest of the Frontier Brain stood across the deck looking towards the shore in the main land. Their expressions were serious and full of determination. It was here that Ash would embark to follow his instinct and intuition to find his legendary. The Frontier Brains and Scott would stay behind like they did for all the others previous. Until Ash came back with a Legendary his only companions would be his Pokemon.

And eventually Ash embarked on land. And he and Pikachu waved goodbye yet their faces were grim with determination. Now wasn't the time to goof around or get distracted. That was yesterday, but now was the ultimate challenge. Ash wasn't going to let this end like the Pokemon Leagues. He wasn't going to be second place nor would he start to doubt himself or cloud his mind in negative thoughts during this fight.

Pikachu reflected his trainers face. The energy coursing through his veins ready to give it all he got. This training that had happened for the past weeks had been have been intense but taught the Electric type and the others more about their abilities along with training his trainer to see them in the battle field.

Ash started to tread through the thick forest, unafraid of this who might attack them. No one, human or Pokemon did. In fact the duo could feel the eyes of the wild creatures on them. Looking at the strange trainer who smelled like the wild itself. Like a storm coming, bringing life giving rain and energy inducing lighting bolts that could energize the air yet strike fire in all places.

They continued the track, and soon Ash was in a place that seemed familiar yet didn't. He knew this region but….

Ash looked to Pikachu for help. Even without battling, he still needed to rely on his pokemon whenever he could.

Pikachu edged him on to go forward. It seemed to be the best signal. Isn't that the point, to go forward and never head back? The Frontier Brains seemed to expect Ash to take at least a week to gain his Legendary Pokemon, however Ash had a nagging feeling that the encounter would be sooner than predicted. They had been walking for about four hours when they had come out of the forest, over grassy plains filled with gracideas. The sky was overcast but the wind was still. The flying bird pokemon and the bug types were no longer chirping . But the eyes of the Pokemon could still be felt against their backs. There was an ominous silence, yet the only noise came from their breath and the sound of the ground moving. They were standing over a steep hill and all they could see the sky.

But the thudding noise came closer and closer. Yet there was nothing hostile coming towards them. Soon Ash and Pikachu started to see green, white and yellow appear over the horizon. It kept rising and rising till it was twelve feet all. Despite of the dark sky, the gems on it gleamed brightly. Soon it stood right before the trainer and the mouse Pokemon, both side's faces impassive. Ash was not surprised by this arrival.

"Reeeeeeegggiiiigiiiigasssss…" The colossal pokemon almost hummed his greeting. Right after this, Regigigas turned around from right where it came from. Ash and Pikachu didn't question this action, the intent was clear; they had to follow it.

The legendary lead them down the hill, not at all deterred by the steep slow while Ash had difficulty between stumbling down and not crashing into Regigigas.

Soon they stood at what looked like a giant mirror on the ground. But… it wasn't a mirror. It was a small lake so still that reflected everything perfectly. The place was utterly still surrounded by cliffs, trees and… a glacier.

Ash and Pikachu's eyes widened, wondering if this is truly the place they were thinking of.

"Regiii…..regiiiigiigassssssss" The Colossal pokmeon confirmed when they looked at it.

One huge arm lifted and pointed them forward to the middle of the lake and the intent was clear.

For the last time, Ash gulped, looked at Pikachu who put on a determined face for his trainer. Ash did the mimicked the expression and trudged forward. He did not stop when the cold water splashed against his legs. There was an illusion of the water looking very deep in the center when actually it was the shallowest part of the lake. So when Ash and Pikachu looked down at the water's smooth surface, no reflection; a pair of red and black eyes starred back at them as if there was a window.

And then without any warning Ash and Pikachu, were pulled in beneath the surface.

The water rippled only for a second before it became still and there was no sign that the trainer and pikachu were even there.

End of Chapter 22

* * *

**I am so excited for Pokemon X and Y. I am getting a 3d just for it.**

**I'm buying Y and getting me a honedge!**


	23. The Guardian: the boy of the storm Pt I

**Hellooooooo!  
****This is your friend True-InTha-Blue!**

**Hey I actually updated in a month! Wow!  
But that's because this is a short chapter.  
Sorry.  
I would've updated sooner buuuutttt...  
Pokemon X and Y. It is so addicting that I bounded with my team more than ever, despite of being artificial creatures. I don't CARE! I believe Pokemon are real! At least in the game.  
So.  
I want to address a few things that have been bother me.  
The reviews.  
While I do appreciate every review I get... I'm kinda tired of  
"Oh you should do So and So", "Oh I want this thing to happen.", "What?",or just "You misspelled something.".  
I admit it, I'm selfish.  
But I want to hear a better analysis of these chapters. Are they good, am I making the characters too OOC? Also I dislike it when you guys are trying to control the MAJOR parts of my story. People, I have planned out every major part of the whole story. I am not changing it.  
You can suggest minor details or something like that.  
And I will avoid cliche's as much as possible.  
Also another thing for the guest readers.  
Stop asking me questions.  
I can not respond and answer your questions so don't ask them.  
I am not apologizing either no matter how much you're offended. I have the right to complain about my own story.  
Also shout outs.  
The legendary Younger P has updated another chapter of his fabulous story  
And the Author Maverick210 has posted a unique and interesting story called 'Ambition'. It's a very interesting take of the original pokemon story and I really like it. It is a sequel so you might be a little confused with out reading the previous. I highly recommend it though.**

**But enjoy the story.**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 23

The Guardian of the Reverse World: The boy who became the Storm Part I

When Ash and Pikachu opened their eyes, they knew they were no longer on earth. The sky was an eerie blue and silver. Clouds of silver, purple and black were scattered throughout the horizon. With them came the large floating land mass and rocks, some twisting and turning in unnatural ways. The most prominent part were the disfigured and twisted buildings that merged with giant crystals.

It was as beautiful as it was otherworldly.

But nothing to compared to this sight.

Before the human and the pikachu was a great onyx serpent crested with gold armor and black tendrils branching from its back. Black and red eyes stared at them knowingly; they have met before, twice in fact.

This was the Guardian of the Reverse world, master of dimensions.

Giratina.

Slowly Ash got up with Pikachu jumped on his familiar spot on his shoulder. They felt the heaviness of their task hang in the very air of this place. Nearly three months ago, they would've been unable to bear it. But now was different, they, his team, Pikachu and himself, have become far stronger than before. This time…. they were different.

But there still things that were the same.

"Its been a while since we seen each other hasn't it?" Ash grinned looking kindly at the legendary.

"Pi pika." Pikachu waved at it as well, following his trainer's lead in just being themselves.

Giratina tilted its head. This was the same boy that it met back when that human was trying to invade its realm and when the great Arceus went rogue but….

This boy was far different from those times.  
Could human's evolve like a pokemon?  
The boy was far different from the other humans in the past. There was a power inside of this boy, once hidden, had now been unleashed. And it roared like a warrior in his soul.

But…

Before it was kindness, not the warrior it had been expecting by instinct. Not a challenger that had been calling for a battle, only someone who radiated warmth and offered a path full life.  
This boy with the Pikachu was dangerous, for a force inside of this human that made this ancient pokemon _want_ to be with the boy. To follow him.  
But, as an ancient pokemon, Giratina wanted to see this boy's strength before deciding if he was truly worthy.

Ash continued to talk gently to the Renegade Pokemon.  
"Seems like you've been expecting us eh? Can't say I know how or why I came here, but I guess we have been just calling to each other someway."

"Pika." The electric type agreed.

Slowly they approached the legendary with Ash slowing reaching up to touch the crest of the serpent. He paused waiting to see if this was okay with the legendary, petting legendaries tend to not to a common thing. But despite of how scary people would find Giratina's void eyes, they were friendly and Ash took that to place his hand on the golden crest. Surprisingly it was warm instead of a cool metal. "So… if you expected me and Pikachu to be here, I guess you also know why we are here too huh?" He walked back feeling his muscles tense up by instinct. He felt Pikachu mimic his actions, such was the bond between them.

"So I ask you…. may I Ash Ketchum challenge, for the right of being on my team, to train you and be your friend?"

The last part took the legendary off guard. Friend? It almost didn't recognize that word, but it suited its relationship to this human who showed it kindness, how didn't fear its nature and offered it a hand to the light. Would it accept this challenge to be under the hand of this human?

Instead of nodding, Giratina reared back and let out a massive screech that echoed throughout the Reverse World.

And to respond, Pikachu's cheeks sparked and the feral grin Ash had grown so fond of stretched across his face.

His eyes became blue with aura flaring for battle.

* * *

The wild Giratina accepts your challenge.

Ash wiped out a Poke'ball and immediately threw it down to reveal his first pokemon.

"Snorlax!" The sleeping pokemon crashed down and ready to fight. It stared down the legendary through its squinting eyes.

Giratina struck first, using Shadow Force. Yet it passed right through Snorlax. Ash blinked for a moment, registering what happened. That must've been a ghost type move, that meant Giratina was ghost type.

_'Dang that rules out Snorlax's Body Slam . That was his most powerful move.'_

But that didn't deter him from using his Pokemon. Giratina struck again with Will-O-Wisp in his mouth. But this time Ash ordered a dodge even though he knew that his normal type ability, Thick Fat, would lessen the damage. But he couldn't afford any damage.

Without effort, Snorlax smoothly dodged the fire attack.

"Charge and use Ice Punch!" Ash ordered. With speed that was wasn't common to his species, the sleeping pokemon charged forward to the legendary.

"Iiiaahhhh!" Opening up its head plates to form a glowing blue sphere. Ash's aura spiked telling him this was Aura Sphere. A fighting type move, super effective against a normal type like Snorlax. He had to act quick.

"Snorlax, jump and undercut with your Ice Punch." Snorlax did just that flipping over the Aura Sphere and came close the Giratina. Yet as the Ice Punch threw up Giratina's head, the Ghost-type managed to launch another Aura Sphere right in his face. Giratina cringed at the ice type move; Snorlax was thrown back. He stayed strong though, it was for his trainer's sake that he remained as much as he could in this battle.

"Your doing great Snorlax!"

"Pika pika pika!" Ash and Pikachu cheered.

"Snorlax!" He wiped the pain off and was ready to make his next move. Ash was practically shifting his feet in anxiety waiting for Giratina to make his next move. So far he determined Giratina's other type. Dragon, so he still had Fire Punch would not do as much. However Ice Punch and the fact he had an Ice type Pokemon still in his Pocket as well as a Dragon type with a powerful dragon type move would be of use. And from what he could determine of Larvitar's hidden power, which was Dark Pulse would be of use for the ghost part of Giratina.

"Now jump on Giratina's back and hammer away with Ice Punch!"

"Snor snorlax!" Once again Snorlax charged forward, but this type Giratina was quicker and smacked away the normal type with Dragon Claw. It sent Snorlax sliding on his paws.

"Keep at it!" Ash urged on.

But this time another Aura Sphere managed to smack the Sleeping pokemon but somehow Snorlax kept on running and got onto the serpent's back. He followed his trainer's orders and began to slam down several Ice Punches.

Giratina winced each time one landed; creepily enough, it was able to twist its head around and landed another Aura Sphere into Snorlax's face. It knocked Snorlax off but not before landing another Ice Punch that sent Giratina flying down the abyss.

Landing on its back, the normal type slowly got up but obviously struggling. Ash was beginning to worry that his most powerful type was being whittled down. But Giratina was not seen.

"Snorlax, Rest to recover you injuries."

Snorlax nodded, agreeing that was a good idea. A warm golden glow enveloped him as his sat down to fall asleep.

But Ash should've know better, for emerging from the thick black aura of Shadow Force to teleport, Giratina launched a barrage of Aura Spheres that all hit the Sleeping Pokemon. Almost in a peaceful way Snorlax fainted sitting down.

Giratina roared showing how it was not at all affected by the blows Snorlax landed on it. So after Ash recalled his pokemon and whispered through the Poke'ball that he did a great job he gritted his teeth, knowing that the battle was far from over.

It was just beginning.

* * *

_Back in the normal world…_

From the Battle Frontier's ship, safely hidden from prying eyes, the Frontier Brains and Scott stared from where Ash and Pikachu departed. With the sky grey and the wind blowing fiercely in their faces.  
Their faces expressionless yet inside they were anxious for the outcome. How long would it take for Ash to succeed? Would he succeed of his first try? Why did Oh-Ho lead them to Sinnoh? Which legendary would Ash befriend? This question always bothered the Frontier Brains when one of the apprentices went out on these quest.

Anabel was the most worried. She was the youngest of the Frontier Brains and one of the newest to the system. She wanted to prove that she was a good teacher but still. Did she prepare Ash enough? Did she do a good job training him? And… as pathetically as it sounded, she already missed his presence. For nearly three months they had been with each other everyday, training and laughing together when one of them did something silly. This would take some time getting use too when the Battle Frontier season started and they had to man their own stations for the challengers. But she was strong and she would get use to it. Her feelings eased when she felt Espeon nudged against her legs and her two beasts rested their heads on her shoulders. But the future would have to wait. Right now, the present was her main concern.

* * *

_In Kanto…_

Its been a while since we've seen Ash's friends. And so far there had been more people added to the party. Brock, May and Max had come across the group along their travels to deal with Ash Ketchum and why he hadn't contacted them. May and Max were more offended than Brock. Yet still the future Pokemon doctor was curious why Ash hadn't notified him if he had gone to a new region. It was odd. So, for their respected reason, joined Misty, Dawn, Barry and Zoey to Pallet town.

But lets figure out to how they came across each other.

_Flashback!_

_Traveling for several days, they finally reached Pewter City. Of course they visited the Pokemon center to heal their pokemon. Having pokemon it was good to train during the path and came across several aggressive pokemon on their way. But there more familiar faces._

_Eagerly a boy with glasses tugged at his sister's shirt to grab her attention. "Max what is it-" She noticed who her brother was pointing to; some people she was glad to see. Yet disappointed that a certain trainer wasn't with them. Both she and the younger boy waved at them. "Hey long time no see!" May called to them._

_The group turned and all smiled seeing May._

_Misty was the first to come toward them. "Oh May and Max! Its nice to see you guys."_

_Dawn was next. "What are you guys doing here and who is this little fellow?"_

_Max smiled and the pretty girl. "My name is Max and I'm May's sister."_

_The Hoenn coordinator ruffled his hair. "This guy just turned ten and is now a full fledged Pokemon trainer. He's here training for the Kanto League in the next few months"_

_Max's glasses gleamed. "Yep. I'm here to start like our friend Ash since he began here as well. I'm going to be the best their is in the Kanto League. I'm here to scout around Pewter City since this is the first place that most trainers start."_

_May smiled both being proud of her brother and amused at his arrogance. "Also I'm here for the Vermillion City's Conference but I guess you could have already figured that out." She grinned sheepishly knowing that two of the girls were coordinators like her._

_Dawn and Zoey smiled. "That will be great! It will be awesome to see you compete again." Zoey said._

_"So what are you guys doing? This isn't the the way to Vermillion." May asked. _

_Misty answered. "Well apparently a certain trainer of ours probably been here for over two months. So we want to see what's up."_

_May and Max perked at seeing Ash again. "Oh, that sounds like a good idea. It will be nice to see how he is doing."_

_"Yeah, I could probably challenge him to a Pokemon Battle." Max smirked at the prospect. Everyone sweat dropped at the fact that Ash was four year superior to the newly started out trainer._

_"Hey isn't this where Brock lives?" Dawn asked suddenly remembering that Brock said he had come from here. _

_Misty thought about it. "Oh yeah, I guess since Brock had been traveling with Ash he would be at his gym right now."_

_"We should go see him. Maybe get the whole gang together." May suggested.  
__Everyone nodded agreeing it was a good idea and headed to Brock's house first. __Once inside Misty was bombard with Brock's many siblings, recognizing here from Ash's adventures. __Brock instantly went to see what the commotion was about and grinned when he saw his friends._

_"Hi everyone. What's going on?" Brock had changed a little bit, his hairs being longer and a little stubble growing from his chin. He was wearing a orange shirt with olive green cargo pants. (_**A/N: He's based off of his HeartGold and SoulSilver design like Misty) **

_Everyone waved. "We were passing by and wanted to see you" Misty said._

_Instead of continuing on, Brock suggested they go to the gym to get away from his rowdy siblings._

_Once there, the only one in the gym was Forrest who was the current leader of it. He waved but went back to his work training his geodude._

_"I see, so Ash hasn't been in contact. He has been awfully quiet."_

_"You would think he would at least say hi to his friends when he got here." Misty huffed._

_Brock nodded. "I can see why you would want to go to Pallet Town then."_

_"Would you like to join us?" Dawn chirped. "I know you're studying to be a Pokemon doctor and all that but it would be nice if we had everyone together."_

_Brock smiled. "Sure why not. In fact I had been worried about Ash. He seemed a bit down since we left Sinnoh."_

_This was news to May and Max who were surprised that Ash had the ability to feel depressed. "Why would he be like that?" Max asked._

_Brock shrugged. "I really don't know. If anything I guess it would be his defeat with Tobias but it is strange that he's never been bothered by defeats before."_

_This was bewildering to the group and now even more determined to go to Pallet Town to see what is up with the pikachu trainer. Could this be the reason why he hasn't kept in touch with them lately?"_

_Brock packed up, taking several pokemon doctor books with him, and bided his family good-bye. _

_End of Flashback._

It had been a day since and progress had been slow since they had so many with them. Still it was fun chatting and asking each other about their experiences. It would take about another week to get to Ash's home; little did they know that their dear friend would not be there or even in this dimension. Never would they imagine Ash and Pikachu were currently battling for their destiny against a legendary pokemon. And imagine their surprise that Ash of all people would choose to join the Battle Frontier to become a Frontier Brain.

It was going to be a shock for sure.

* * *

Ash's next Pokemon was Gabite.

Dig was out of the question since Giratina's levitation had it good bit off the ground. It was like with Snorlax having only three no two moves, since Rock-Smash was a fighting type move, to use but like before this would not stop our hero.

"Cut to the chase." Ash growled feeling bloody pumping through his veins. "Draco Meteor with Dragon Pulse Gabite!"

Quickly Gabite launched the powerful dragon type move. But now that Gabite was susceptible to it, Giratina used Shadow Force to knock him back. And then flowed between the powered up falling meteors. None hit and using Dragon Claw launched Gabite in the air.

Ash was quick to react. "Aim down to use Draco Meteor with Dragon Pulse again!"

"Gaaaaa-BITE!"

Due to the short distance, only one shot of powered up Dragon Meteor struck Giratina but since it was a super effective move it managed to send the legendary down on the ground. It quickly got up and circled around the smaller dragon type and landed an Aura Sphere on him. Ash ordered a counter with Rock Smash, this sorta split the Aura Sphere in two but still hit the ground type. Good thing ground-types weren't affected by fighting types.

This caused an glowing smoke which was a good way to use to an advantage.

"Dragon Pulse!" Ash yelled wanting to conserve Draco Meteor. Besides it was quicker to hit Giratina who was previously testing them, now let lose its full potential. This made it harder to hit and showed Ash that this was indeed going to need his full team.

It managed to take it by surprise and hit the legendary but it didn't deter it in the slightest and used another Shadow Force to knock the cave pokemon back.

"Grrrrrrrr BITE!" The dragon type growled feeling a bit more weekend at the powerful move, but still Ash's strength and belief in him kept Gabite going. He shook it off and on his trainer's orders charged at the legendary but jumped and spread his arms wide open. That was the first moment that Gabite was able to glide.

He used a move that Ash hadn't known before but recognized it, Aerial Ace. It stuck Giratina flinging it off a little a little. Still Giratina willed up a Will-O-Wisp and shot it at the still flying Gabite. Ash tried to have his pokemon dodge it, but being new to the glide, Gabite was still slow and didn't know how to turn. It made the dragon type crash down in the ground and causing an impression in the dirt.

"Gabite, I know you can get up!" Ash was right next to his Pokemon helping him up. This was not an official battle so he could work next to his Pokemon. He would stand next to his team, and battle with them. That's what he could do!

"Gaabi…" Ash grasped his clawed fin and helped stand on his feet. Giratina waited curious to see the boy helping his Pokemon. Ash began to growl, blood still boiling. The significance of this battle was making him practically feel his pokemon's instincts and was taking them on.

"Lets go!"

"Pikaaaaa!"

"Gaaaaa!"

"IIIIAAAHHH!" Giratina with its own roar responded using Dragon Claw towards Gabite.

"Ariael Ace to dodge with Dragon Pulse!"

Gabite did manage to dodge and turned around to shoot the torrent of draco energy at the legendary. Giratina recovered from his miss, twisted around an shot an Aura Sphere. The two attacks collided in dramatics. However Giratina was tricky and used Shadow Force to get close to the Cave Pokemon.

This would be the finishing blow for Gabite so Ash ordered one last Draco Meteor with Dragon Pulse, combining it with Aerial Ace's Speed to add extra force.

And always following his trainer's orders to the end, Gabite obeyed, executing the attack in the face of defeat. They were face to face when when the attacks landed, and from the clash Gabite fainted back down on the ground. Giratina narrowed its eyes to make sure the opponent was defeated and watched as the human and the pikachu came up to the pokemon, telling the other dragon type encouragement and giving it kindnesses despite of being defeated. The gabite gave a weak smile and growled affectionately.

What was this strange warmth in its violent heart? This boy, were all humans this way besides the intruder of its realm? Why? Why did this boy affect it so?

But, a battle was a battle and it still wanted to continue this to see the boy's strength and while the boy was no doubt strong from the battle so far, there was far more he had to go through.

And so Ash called forth his third Pokemon.

"Bulbasaur!" He called out. The seed pokemon turned to his trainer ready for battle. Ash nodded staring back up to Giratina.

_"Despite of my defeats i will not back down. I shall not be weak in the face of losing. Defeat teaches me, defeat makes me stronger. With each defeat this battle gives me, I shall grow stronger for each round.'_ Ash thought determinedly. Though most of Bulbasaur's grass attacks won't do much damage to a dragon type but there were some moves he taught his longest alley recently.

"Bulbasaur…wait." Muscles tensed in both human and pokemon waiting for the legendary to attack. Blue flaring eyes watched the serpent slide and hover in the air. It was waiting too. Giratina was obviously no ordinary Pokemon. It had a violent streak and acted rashly from what he has seen but it was far more intelligent than most wild pokemon.

And then Giratina vanished.

_'Shadow Force!"_

"Bulbasaur, duck and slide forward." Using speed and dexterity, when Giratina appeared to attack Bulbasaur was underneath its stomach.

"Venoshock!"

Purple shards erupted from the grass-type's bulb. They rapidly shot against the Renegade pokemon making it get away quickly to not be hit anymore. Speedily Giratina launched Aura Sphere that hit Bulbasaur but Ash's pokemon shook it off.  
Now it was time to launch some strategy.

"Begin a Sunny Day!"

Glowing gold orb shot from the bulb and exploded in the sky, bathing the Reverse World in a foreign sunlight. Giratina was on the offensive, beginning to use Will-O-Wisp against the duel type, using Sunny Day to its advantage.

"Use the rocks to your advantage!" Ash yelled to his pokemon. Bulbasaur understood using the stagnant and hovering rocks as cover. However, there was an alternative method to legendary's attacks. Some of the battle ground had been covered in blue ethereal flames making this place hazardous for someone like Bulbasaur.

Yet Ash stared began his attack.

"Grass Knot to tie him down." Glowing green and blue, from the ground gigantic blades of grass erupted from the ground beneath the renegade pokemon wrapping around and dragging the floating pokemon down on the ground and damaging it. They were extra strong due to the sunlight.

"Solar Beam!" The powerful grass attack launched speedily and enveloping the legendary in a golden light.

The blue flames were getting closer to Bulbasaur though and Ash could feel the strange hot yet cold heat on his face.

The only way Bulbasaur could get out of there was release Giratina from his Grass Knot trap and get out of there.

He didn't like that option but it was better than Bulbasaur getting hit by a super powered fire attack.

"Release and get out of there Bulbasaur!" Ash ordered hoping that bulbasaur could escape the escalating flames.

However this was not so because as soon as the Grass Knot lessened, Giratina launched another Will-O-Wisp toward grass/poison type an off to the rest of the fire.

"Pikachu-Pika!"

"Ah no! " Ash thought quickly about this. "Use Venoshock to douse the flames." He hoped that since Venoshock was a poison type move there would at least be a little liquid in the attack to at least extinguish some of the heat.

"Bul…." It was hot and Bulbasaur felt he had been burned. He barely heard his trainer's orders from the roar of the fire but managed to pull it off. It wasn't the liquid though that got rid of the flames but instead the gust and force of the attack to blow them away.

He leapt out, landing safety on a high rock away from the Ash could see there was black burns on his grass types stubby legs.

Great just what he needed; a time limit on this round of the battle. And he knew that Giratina would not fall for the Grass Knot-Solarbeam combo. So he would have to improvise, especially since Sunny Day would wear out soon.

"Launch a SolarBeam followed by Venoshock!" He was starting to combine attacks. The weight of the situation had made it hard to adjust to his usual strategy. But now the his unorthodox strategy was back and he was going to pelt the legendary with it. Giratina wanted to see his strength, then he would use every ounce of it!

The combo attack took on a strange look, the normally golden beam of Solarbeam had violet jagged streak in it. And it did indeed hit the dragon/ghost type. Yet like always Giratina stayed thorough and began once again to use Shadow Force to the recovering from burn Bulbasaur and started to copy Ash's technique of combining attacks. It used Will-O-Wisp combined with the shadowy force. It knocked Bulbasaur back and circled higher in the air so not to be pulled down by Grass Knot.

Once again Ash ran up to his pokemon and helped the tremendously weakened grass-type up. Him gently grabbing Bulbasaur's stomach and Pikachu helping by helping the head.

"Pika pik-a…" Pikachu's paws nudged the nearly fainted pokemon awake, telling his friend to stay strong, to keep the battle up. This wasn't a matter of beating a team or even a normal battle they had to just weaken Giratina as much as they could.

"saur… saur…" The seed pokemon panted.

However Ash saw how much pain and fatigued Bulbasaur was. And even if the grass type manage to muster up what little it's strength it had left, the status effect burn would finish him off soon.

He had to, what the Gym leader Pryce said long ago is, 'Throw in the Towel'.

"Bulbasaur…" He smiled gently. "Great job. Now rest."

It looked like Bulbasaur was about to protest, but seeing his trainer's eyes, soon fainted to drift off to sleep in his arms. Recalling him back to his Poke'ball Ash sighed looking desperately at Pikachu.

"Pikapi…." Pikachu had nothing to say. What could you say in the face of a legendary to what it seems they couldn't beat?

Once again sighing Ash stood up and feeling more determined than ever. He could feel his fallen Pokemon weariness and feel the anxiety of the ones yet to come. Pikachu was the most distressed because he could see what was going on in the battle.

But they had to pull through. Over the months the thought of being a Frontier Brain had become more and more appealing. Especially since he found out what the Battle Frontier really is.

A force for justice.  
A friend to all Pokemon and humans.  
And a Family  
He wanted to make them proud, to repay the faith they had in him.  
He wanted Anabel to be proud of him too.

So… he would never give up; even if he had to fight Giratina himself, he would always continue fighting for his friends, his pokemon and his dream to become a Pokemon Master AND a Battle Brain!

And so with determined eyes staring at the serpent in respect and defiance Ash would finish this.

End of Chapter 23

**Okay! First off I know some of the moves are kinda off from the game.  
****For example: Giratina's Shadow Force only has 5PP, Will-O-Wisp only initiates burn.  
I am following the anime rules were being a legendary Giratina can do a lot of crap without much restrictions and the fact he was such a tank in the game its gonna to be hard to for Ash and Pikachu to take it down.  
Gabite instantly replace Dig for Aerial Ace.  
Anywho, hope you enjoyed it.**

**OH I almost forgot.  
I will release my friend code for my reviewers who have an account of fanfiction. Not instantly though. I am still trying to develop at proper team.  
Can't wait to see you guys on the game.  
Also my character on the game is called Jed and I'm going to use Spinda.  
****Lawl!  
**I think I will be using Jed's entire team from chapter 17 at first, though I will switch it up from time to time. I may even use Anabel's team as well.


	24. The Guardian: the boy of the storm Pt II

**Hi everyone, I'm True-InTha-Blue and Merry** **Christmas!  
****Okay okay, Merry late Christmas.  
I am very very sorry this was not posted yesterday or on Christmas Eve like I wanted it to be.  
Christmas Eve was full of stuff and on Christmas day my page wouldn't let me upload. Something about Error 503 or whatever. So what is todays treat?  
First off this is simply wrapping up the Legendary battle. As of being urgent I have decided to show the after math in a different chapter.  
So sorry but I hope this give you something to check out.  
ALSO!  
I have posted a separate cute short story about Ash and Anabel on Christmas Eve about Christmas Eve.  
Its called 'Together for Christmas: From One Side to Another'  
Go Figure.  
Anywho  
Enjoy!**

** Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 24

The Guardian of the Reverse World: The boy who became the Storm Part II

(Two months and 17 days after the initiation)

Still in the Reverse World and down three pokemon, Ash continued his standoff with the legendary pokemon Giratina! Though his pokemon, Snorlax, Gabite and Bulbasaur had all fought bravely but alas felled to the great power of the legendary. Now Ash was down to the last three of his team.

Glalie the Ice-Type.  
Larvitar the Rock/Ground-Type  
And his forever faithful starter and buddy, Pikachu the Electric type.  
He only had three rounds to finish off Giratina or…

_'Nows not the time to worry about the future! The present is now!'_ Ash snarled in his mind.  
"Larvitar! You next!" He threw down his next poke'ball down and out came his newest member. Of course like anyone who was still inexperienced to new places and especially seeing the ominous legendary for the first time would be nervous.

"Lar…." Larvitar was tempted to Harden at the sight of the great serpent but… he quickly looked at his…. _his _trainer's face and seeing how determined he looked at looking at Larvitar for such dependence gave the Rock-Skin pokemon the courage not too.  
"LARVITAR!"It roared as loud as its tiny lungs allowed it.

Ash nodded in approval of Larvitar's will.  
"Let's go!"

Giratina let out another shriek in attempt to intimidate the small pokemon but Larvitar felt his trainer's will and stayed true.

"Larvitar use Stone Edge!" Ash commanded first.  
It was best to keep Giratina guessing what move set that his pokemon had. Larvitar had two dark type moves and it was best to keep them on reserve.

Red glowed around his youngest pokemon and sharp rocks shot up from the ground and towards the legendary. They seemed to be faster than what Ash remembered from training on the ship. Yet Giratina was faster. Just a bit though.  
Apparently some damage had manage to effect the legendary. Ash kept that in mind.

Giratina moved in to use Aura Sphere and while he was ordering Larvitar to dodge he came up with a possibly good move set. It wasn't going to be pretty but this should work.

He covered his ears and beckoned Pikachu to do the same. "Larvitar use Screech!"

Surprised but followed through with the move. It was ear per icing, coupled with the wide open space of the Reverse world made Giratina wither in pain. And this is what Ash wanted.

"Quickly, run with you Stone Edge and follow up with Crunch!"

Larvitar rushed almost as fast as the rock type move and did indeed latch his teeth on the legendary's . He was quickly flung off though by Dragon Claw. With a flip, the Rock-Skin pokemon landed on his feat. However Ash winced at the close combat move just used. Though Larvitar was strong, his constitution was limited. He would have to be careful with his time and using Larvitar to a certain way. Hit hard and fast.

"Larvitar! Hidden Power!" Ash ordered. Larvitar, being the newest member, wasn't used to combining attacks and making new techniques to get it more powerful. He would have to do things simply to weaken Giratina.

Dark Rings shot towards said pokemon however, taking initiative that fighting type moves were powerful against dark types countered with Aura Sphere and dispersed the Hidden Power move. Using Shadow Force, Giratina struck Ash's Pokemon with a ghost powered tail. This made the Rock-Skin Pokemon crash all the way back to his train. Ash gritted his teeth in worry. It was a powerful move and Larvitar wasn't used to being against such power. But Ash had to make do, besides Larvitar did have the advantage of having two moves that were super effective against Giratina. He just had to be fast enough to land them.

"Get up and wait for my signal." Defensive would be the best method right now.

"Lar!" The Rock-Skin understood. Meanwhile Pikachu stood looking at the results and how the battle was going so far, and something told him in his little gut that he would have to battle the legendary.

Giratina watched carefully, aware what the human was trying to do. But if it was suppose to be attacking than that's what it would do.

Aura Sphere was the next move used, and was zooming in close to the ground, making a path that cleared away the otherworldly dirt and grass.

Larvitar braced himself for the attack however Ash had other plans.

"Dodge now! Use your weight to fling yourself out of the way." Ash had said before the fighting type move got half way to Larvitar. Said pokemon flung himself away making him tumble fast.

"Hidden Power!" Using the momentum gained by the dodge, the black rings came faster to the Renegade pokemon than expected. It struck and helped lower the legendary's health. But as Ash knew by now, super effective attacks were only somewhat useful in this battle than in a normal one.

Giratina retaliated though, with another Aura Sphere and it did manage to nab Larvitar right in the chest, winding the small pokemon. Our hero could feel cold sweat drip down his face with worry. He didn't want his pokemon to go down this fast.

"C'mon Larvitar! I know your still new to being part of my team but I've seen your strength back when you were even a baby. Show me how much you've improve k?"

"Pika pika pi ka!" Pikachu cheered along side his trainer.

"Lar…" He was weak and the attacks from this big pokemon were far strong than anything his mama ever threw at him while training. But… If his trainer could believe he could… than he would do it. After all, he was the one who showed him how much warmth the world had.

"Larvitar! Tar!" On his own command surprising both Ash, Pikachu and Giratina launched himself to Crunch down on the legendary on his own.

Ash took this shock to his advantage. "Hidden Power!" He called out to his pokemon. Right before Giratina hit Larvitar with another Aura Sphere, the strange normal-type turned dark type move made a direct hit.

The Rock-Skin pokemon was unfortunate enough to also get a direct hit. But for a remarkable reason managed to pull through despite of having been weakened so much. Yet the watchers on the sideline knew that one more hit landed and then that was the end.

But Ash learned that Larvitar wasn't much of a waiter in battle, so he had to use his Rock/Ground Type's speed to get the upper hand while it lasted.

"Screech Again!" Ash and his starter immediately covered their ears once he gave the order. This time Giratina was prepared, slithering across the air to the little pseudo legendary trying its best to ignore the terrible scream. Ash then yelled out for Larvitar to dodge and then retaliate with Stone Edge; the move being faster than Hidden Power and thus would not slow Larvitar down. Shards of rock showered down on the Legendary, yet continuing in its pursuit to get nearer to the human's pokemon.

Ash didn't like this one bit as he knew from personal experience that Giratina can easily cross distances by Shadow Force. So why was it moving in the physical plane? Was he trying to tire Larvitar out by making him dodge and launch Stone Edge ?

_'No, that wasn't it.'_ Ash narrowed his eyes to get a clearer view of the battle field. And then they widened seeing where Larvitar was standing. Near by one of the indents in the land from where powerful attacks had hit, Larvitar was standing right on edge near it!

"Larvitar run forward! Your standing to close to-" The rest of his trainer's words were clouded when Larvitar was struck by Giratina who swiped him with his tail into the ditch. Then disappearing, it didn't appear directly in front like it normally does however appeared from the ground of were Larvitar was laying, causing the small pokemon to fly into the sky by the powerful attack.

Once again Ash didn't hesitate to run after his pokemon who was falling drastically fast. Just before Larvitar hit the ground, he leaped forward and took most of the blow. The impact crushed his lungs, air escaped him and he could feel beneath his clothes his back being scratched and torn back the ground and rubble underneath.

He nearly blanked from the impact if not for Pikachu calling for him, giving small shocks through his cheeks.

"Pika pika pika! Pikachu Pikapi!" The electric type said trying to keep his trainer awake. Stupid Ash, always doing stupid and reckless things for friends and complete strangers!

"Pi…' The Mouse Pokemon sighed in relief seeing Ash gain focus in his eyes. Both exhaled in sadness seeing Larvitar had fainted in mid air. Ash felt bad, seeing how this was Larvitar's first battle under his tuition and it was pitted against a foe like no other. The odds were against Larvitar who was still brand-new to the world.

"I promise, next time we'll have a better battle."

* * *

Glalie never thought as a snorunt that he would be facing a legendary. This made the Face-pokemon wonder though, did any pokemon who joined Ash's team expected these adventures that they have gone on. Though being an ice-type, fire burned within him watching the legendary hover in the air, still going despite of the massive damaged that would have felled ten pokemon of his own level.

The Ice-type released a burst of icy breath readying himself.

Ash saw the cue and nodded.

"Let's go." He said pulling his hat further down.

Both pokemon strikes, one on its own command, the other through his humans. Will-O-Wisp and Shadow Ball faced off. It lead to an explosion that covered both pokemon. But thanks to aura sight, this allowed Ash to see the signature energies of the pokemon through the smoke; knowing that Giratina could use aura sphere, Ash's suspected that the legendary could too.

So he asked Glalie to trust him, to move around in the smoke at his command dodging Giratina's attempt at Shadow Force.

"Clear the area with Gyro Ball!" Glalie excelled expectations, not only blowing away cover with the steel-type move but also managing to land a hit on Giratina. Ash had accepted the fact that his pokemon will act on their own sometimes but he trusted their decisions. He then commanded for a Blizzard to make a new cover that will not only have Glalie get away from being so close from the Renegade pokemon but also land a super-effective Ice type move.

It barely managed to hit though, nicking the legendary as Glalie made his way back to his trainer.

Giratina had zoomed over preparing Aura Sphere when Ash called forth an Ice Beam. Shadow Force made the legendary dodge it and get close to let lose the Aura Sphere.

Ash had another Gyro Ball to deflect it which did disperse it yet it did hit the ice-type.

But this was still just the beginning of this round. And like before Ash had to act quick without giving Giratina a chance to land one of its powerful moves.

"Again with with Gyro Ball and then use Blizzard!" Ash believed that these two attacks would be compliments, Gyro Ball's speed widening and intensifying Blizzards already potent attack power. However Giratina managed to launch another Aura Sphere at Glalie. Yet this sacrifice paid off as Blizzard managed to land several hits on the legendary. Freezing some parts of the Legendary's pointed limbs and back.

Ash almost wanted to smile if the battle wasn't so grim. About time something went his way! But now wasn't the time to feel elevated, he had to stay one target.

"Gyro Ball again, use that to make a Counter Shield with Ice Beam!"

The rapid spinning kept Giratina at bay before the chilling stream of Ice was released in arcs. Giratina tried to evade but its body was far to big to navigate though the thin spaces. Yet another Shadow Force was able to lead it away from the super effective onslaught.

More and more of its body was slowly being covered in Ice, if it was in its Altered form, then it would be unable to move. Thankfully it had the power of levitation however it had been slowed down tremendously.

Soon in rage, Will-O-Wisp came pouring out in large bright blue and white spheres, combining them with Aura Sphere, something it learned from watching the human during this battle. They had been super powered with its rage and was released throughout its whole field with burning hot flame, spreading even further with the power of aura.

Ash panicked. "Glalie stop and get out of there!" He called out to his pokemon trying to keep from touching those burning flames; it was even hotter then Bulbasaur's round. Giratina was truly mad now and the heat of the fire reflected this. And even worser things yet was the fact that that the frozen status was melting off.

It began to launch and barrage of Aura Sphere all over the place. Even when trying to to avoid the heat from the ground the Aura Spheres in the air managed to take their hits among Glalie.

One… two… three direct hits landed on Glalie! Ash watched wondering what to do, there was so much movement it was hard to focus. And since the flames where infused with Aura and it was hard to see with his Aura Sight on. He shut it off, leaving his eyes back to the duel colors. Everyone's movement seemed a lost faster thus leaving him without edge.

Fine then.

If he couldn't see then neither would Giratina.

"Glalie, If you have enough strength left, use every single blizzard you have, use everything! Gyro Ball to extend it, Ice Beam to power it up!" Ash knew this was foolhardily but he knew it in his gut that his Ice-Type would only able to withstand one more attack and that was not counting the status effect Burn on it.

"I'm sorry! But this is the only way I can think of!" Ash yelled out apologizing for straining so much strength in his pokemon.

"Gla. Lie…. Gla." The Face Pokemon understood and willed up what was left of its strength. He began to will his Icy power to expand, beginning with Gyro Ball, then immediately Blizzard releasing the Ice Beam then after. Snow and giant chunks of hail were beginning to form in a giant sphere around Glalie. And despite of their power the Aura Sphere's were bouncing off of it. And the extra residue from the snow storm sphere were extinguishing the flames. Soon the strange Ice attack was even bigger than the Renegade Pokemon.

"Pika!"

"GO!"

And the Hyper Blizzard crashed into Giratina who was still caught up in its rage to noticed what had happened. Soon it was engulfed the the raging storm of white with nothing visible left. There was a howling gale, that was all the noise left from the battle. Both Glalie and Giratina lost in the storm, there was nothing to indicate what was going on. The whole area felt freezing, and Ash felt his marrow ice over just sitting still. Then he remembered that he could use Aura sight again since the aura flames subsided. But when he finally turned them on, the Snow Sphere Storm subsided and two pokemon fell out. First Giratina whose body slowly slid out and drooped oddly in the air. Last was Glalie who fell down like a lead weight. Ash sighed seeing Glalie fainted and Giratina still conscious.

He was getting frustrated, the fatigue of his whole team was pressuring down on him through their bond. He recalled his pokemon; it felt like he himself was fighting this battle himself.

But now he was down to the last member on his team.

Pikachu.

Ash looked to his life-long buddy.

"Pika…pikachu." Pikachu mirrored the serious look on his trainer's face. It was up to him then. The final resort to beating Giratina. Who knew how much strength Giratina had left but no matter what, it could not be underestimated no matter what! Even when it was down to the very last hit, Giratina could easily dispose of any pokemon at any level.

"Pika!" Electricity sparkled from his cheeks show that he was ready.

Ash nodded. "Good!" Words had been lost on these two, they needed to save their strength for what was next.

Giratina turned slowly to them, eyeing its next opponent. The abnormally strong pikachu.

It didn't say anything at all, it too conserving strength. The residue from Glalie's make shift snowstorm was falling one the ground, a fine snow was falling in the field.

The blue glow of the Reverse World gave the snow a mystic glow and it would have been distracted if any trainer didn't have Aura sight.

"Volt Tail."

Huge amounts of bright lightning surrounded Pikachu faster than had previously attempted. The Mouse Pokemon leapt high and above the legendary and came straight down with an Volt Tackle electricity charged Iron Tail. Giratina countered with Dragon Claw both squaring off in terms of power.

"Pikaaaaaaa KA-PIKA!" Pikachu add more charge to his voltage to make the force against Giratina more powerful. Yes the after affects would hurt Pikachu, but this wasn't a matter of having the last pokemon standing, it was about show Giratina that they were, together, more powerful enough to beat it!

The extra power actually managed to send the legendary flying!

Pikachu didn't even land on his paws before Ash gave the next call to attack!  
"Thunder Bolt followed by Iron Tail!"

"Pi-KaCHU!" Pikachu moved with the lightning that was emitting from both his cheeks and conducting around his iron plated tail. The charge stirred up the snow and wrapped around Pikachu leaving a stormy wake in place of the electric-type.

Giratina growled, before releasing its newly learned Aura Will-O-Wisp in Pikachu's path.

Pikachu saw the impact coming towards him and started to scoot from the attack, great amounts of static emitting off of him and creating steam from the snow.

"Pikachu, it will hurt but defect it with your Iron Tail!" Ash commanded.

"Ka-Chu PIKA!" The electric type used the momentum of the slippery snow to slide across the plane and added it to the force or Iron Tail. However, this was not enough to deflect a fighting type/fire-type move with a steel-type and thus sent Pikachu sliding on his back.

Pikachu was still as sharp though, and landed back on his paws.

"Keep going!" Ash said. He had to go through with raw power this time. Giratina was in a state found in very feral, still thinking, but feral. Raw power was emitting from the legendary and unless he could come up with a strategy that could neutralize that power then he would have to retaliate back with the same brutal force!

Pikachu skirted across the snow. Gaining speed, creating fiction and thus allowing more electricity to be generated from it. Static was rummaging all around the his fur and started to generate electrical currents on the snow.

"IIIIAAAAAAAA!" Giratina shrieked mightily feeling the electricity emitting from the ground trying to reach up to harm it. Using Shadow Force it appeared behind from Pikachu, its shadow aura was used to attack Pikachu however the electrical field surrounding the mouse pokemon harmed it as well.

"Quick Attack it with that field!" Ash had Pikachu use that normal type move for the extra speed even though it wouldn't normally hurt a ghost-type but from the electrical current passing through Pikachu charged it with the power of thunder!

The two bounced off of each other, neither giving the other an edge.

Ash gritted his teeth, looking everywhere for something that could give him and edge.

Inwardly he sighed. _'Its always like this with Legendaries, you can never find something when you need it. Its just like that time with Latios and…" _Something sparked in his mind. Recalling an tactic that helped with that battle, he knew Pikachu would be able to this. No where as weak as he was with the battle with Tobias, this should work.

"Pikachu! Roll tactic! Keep discharging that Thunderbolt and get on Giratina's back!" Ash watched how Pikachu barely just nodded before dodging a Dragon Claw released by Giratina. It stirred up the snow and thus gave Pikahcu the chance to use its little bodies speed to spin right on top on the Renegade Pokemon's backside.

Pikachu was tiny compared to Giratina and thus the Legendary was confused as to where the electric-type had gone not feeling him on its body. It was hard to feel anything from its body right now as pulses of electricity were vibrating though it so much that it was hard to tell where it was coming from.

"Volt Tail!" Normally it would be impossible to pull off a Volt Tackle at a standstill but Ash had been training Pikachu to start any of his attacks at a second notice to surprise any opponent. So this seemed like another perfect situation to do it.

Giratina screeched feeling a sharp and hot pain digging right in its back from where its tendrils sprung up. From the corner of its red eyes it could see the pikachu had slammed and wedged its tail right in that joint, discharging an abnormal amount of electricity within it. In a desperate attempt to rid itself of the miniature generator, Giratina slammed its back on the ground.

"Pika!" Pikachu unfortunately loosened its grip on Giratina and took difficultly getting back up. However from what Ash noticed is that Giratina was hardly an foot above the ground.

He was weakened.

A few more hits. But…

The same could be said for Pikachu.

"Pikachu you need to get up!" Ash yelled out. "I need you to counter shield!" The electric type was trying to get up, before an Aura Sphere was launched right into his body.

"Chu…" That was a powerful attack; knocked the breath out of him. However the next attack that was shot Pikachu somehow used that extra force to send him into the position of Counter Shield. Soon that electricity started to spark in wide arcs making it impossible to land any Aura Spheres or fit into it using Shadow Force. Giratina tried to back away but the lighting seemed to follow the legendary everywhere as if homed into its body signature.

This leads to the fact that Noland while at the Battle Tower told Ash some interesting facts about electromagnetic fields he could create with Pikachu and how you can create almost any pokemon (sans ground types) into a lightning rod.

"Awesome job!" Ash cheered on. "Iron Tail to focus your energy in the counter shield." Soon the smaller bolts of electricity merged into a gigantic one emitting into the sky from Pikachu. It arced over to Giratina, the electricity turning from yellow to blue over how much power was being put forth. The Renegade Pokemon thrashed around trying to escape the field.

"Volt Tackle for the last time!" Ash said knowing that Pikachu was running out of power soon! They had to finish this in one big bang.

Pikachu got up from the Counter Shield, feeling drained. But he had to do this one last move; quickly before Giratina stopped thrashing and being distracted by the attack.

"Piiiiiiii-pipipipipi! PIKAAAAA-" He leaped far above any obstacle and aimed right at Giratina's head.

"CHUUUU!" In a climatic encounter that was surrounded by a bright light, both pokemon were sent flying out it.

Pikachu plastered on the ground as well as Giratina.

Ash let a sigh of relief seeing Pikachu get up.

"IIIAAHHHH!" A familiar screech took the wind out of his lungs though, immediately being followed by the disappearing act of Shadow Force.

"Pikachu get out of there!" Ash said as everything went into Bullet Time due to his brain being in overworked. Pikachu was far to weak and distracted by Ash's voice to realize that Giratina had struck. It reappeared in a flow of purple and black, and since its most powerful attack made a direct hit on the weakened Pikachu….

Do I really need to tell you what happened?

"PIKACHU!" Ash some managed to catch Pikachu from the air. Once in his arm, the small guy could hardly keep conscious and Giratina, though on its last breath, was still going.

Did… did this mean…

Eye narrowed down. The aura sight no longer flaring but solidifying his eyes to a near complete blue. While catching Pikachu his hat had fallen off, and then he placed his starter inside of it, covering with him with his sleeveless jacket.

The trainer's steps crunched in the left over ice and snow. He felt the lighting charged ground through his shoes but he kept an walking towards the legendary.  
He felt a low rumble from Giratina; it wasn't threatening but questioning.

"You know something…" Ash started to speak. "In a normal battle… in the other world, if I all six of my pokemon were to faint, then I would lose the battle. But… over the past few months I found out that there is more to just pokemon on part of a team."

He got into a fighting stance with aura spheres glowing in both of his hands. "And that means I'm part if it too!" He roared. "I challenged you to a battle my team, and that means my pokemon and me! I stand besides my pokemon and nothing will change my mind!"

Giratina was no less to say shocked at this new development. A human dares to take place battling a legendary pokemon? That power glowing in his hands though, that was another story. However this human...

It was foolhardily, insane, stupid, stupid stupid! But that what he was all about. He was Ash Ketchum after all, hotheaded and rash. He did these things all the time. Without question or indication he launched the aura spheres at Giratina. Before tackling the weakened legendary over the edge of the landmass. He had taken the legendary by surprise as they went falling from sky. Acting on instinct, Giratina launched Will-O-Wisp at Ash, who took the blow with his arm, ignoring the sting and flames.

The trainer was about to launch another aura sphere interrupted by the impact of the ground. It flung him off the legendary making him tumble along the ground. He could feel cuts marking his skin as the rocks dug themselves in. He got up though not bothering to take care of himself. But he halted his own battle seeing the Legendaries face right in front of his.

Ash didn't move instead braced himself for an attack but felt nothing.

Giratina didn't attack instead, he saw that its body had been resting on the ground, looking like it was about to pass out.

So instead of retaliating, Ash held out his arms and though it was almost larger than his body, was able to hold Giratina's head. It was heavy enough to send him right on his bottom, sitting on the ground.

Ash realized he could hardly breath, all his pokemon who had fainted, their exhaustion had been affecting him. Didn't help he tried to battle a legendary itself, and fell two stories worth of height.

"Ah geez. Sorry." Ash said to the beat down legendary. He could see one of its large red and black eyes turn his way. "Guess I kinda got caught up in the heat of battle. Pretty foolish of me trying to take you on. Didn't know you where this tired too." He grinned apologetically. Ash watched as one of the red tipped, black tendril come and touch his forehead.

_**You're brave…**_

Ash blinked. _'Telepathy.'_ He thought.  
"Some call it foolhardily." Ash kinda laughed. "No one is considered sane doing what I just did."

_**What do you think?**_

Ash didn't know what to think. "I… I wanted to show to… myself actually, that I was stronger than when I first started out."

_**Are you? **_

**"**Yeah." Ash smiled. "I think so." He let off a heavy breath, looking back at Giratina. "Its funny. Never in my life, especially when I started my journey as a pokemon trainer and I even saw Ho-Oh, would I ever expect to fighting a legendary pokemon with my own hands. Heck! I would have never have thought to even met someone like you. So… Thank you Giratina." Ash said beginning to pet around the crest of the legendary.

This was so surreal. He, Ash Ketchum, was petting a gigantic legendary, with cuts and burns on him from fighting it just a second ago. It felt, natural. So natural in fact that he let the legendary pick him up and take them back to the landmass that the original battle took place. Both were tired and weary but there was a mutual respect for each other. Giratina waited on the ground as Ash went to retrieve Pikachu in his arms. Coming back, in his hand, he was fingering about a Poke'ball.

He had decided he would let the Renegade Pokemon decided the outcome. Ash didn't want to fail, to be delayed… but sometimes, there were things you weren't ready for, whether it was winning a pokemon league or even something as big as capturing a Legendary Pokemon. In his heart he wanted to believe he was ready. That he could achieve the next step in his life; it wasn't a step he was expecting but still in was something.

"Iiiiaaa." He was close to the Renegade pokemon. It was there waiting for him.

Without thinking about it he held up the empty Poke'ball. He didn't say anything, just waited.

One second.

Two seconds.

Four seconds.

A minute.

A minute lasted until Giratina put its heads foreword until it hit the button on the Poke'ball, and a strange white light enveloped it and when absorbed. Light envelope the entire area, Ash and Pikachu as well.

* * *

When Ash opened his eyes he was laying on the shore of the glacier lake, to where he entered the reverse world. Pikachu, his jacket and hat were resting on the side and in his right hand resting on the ground was the Poke'Ball he caught Giratina with.

The Poke'ball lost its red and white coloration, instead crystalizing into a topaz like sphere with ridges and facets. It showed what he had done, that he actually accomplished such a task.

Ash smile wearily at the barely conscious Pikachu. "We did it buddy."

"Pikapi…" Pikachu too could hardly believe it, yet alone stay awake to finish his sentence. But Ash could tell that he had the same happiness.

He stared at the sphere in his hands. "We did it…. we did it…" Succumbing to his injuries and mental exhaustion Ash too, passed out.

* * *

Not five minutes have passed when Ash was found.

"Artiiiii…" Articuno spotted the trainer and flew right to its friend, Noland about it.

"Found him guys!" Noland called to the rest of the Battle Frontier through his Poke'Navi who had been in charge of searching the northern part of the path.

He pulled Ash out who was half submerged in the lake and wrapped him in a safety blanket to prevent hypothermia. His pokemon ranger instincts took over and began to check the boys pulse and the injuries the trainer had sustained. It was nothing serious, mostly exhaustion had been the cause of the collapse. No less than a minute then all the other Battle Brains, and Scott had showed up and began business.

It wasn't an unusual thing that a future Frontier Brain to get injured trying to keep up with battling a legendary and then passing out from it. Of course, like all things Ash attempts, he went the extra mile and sustained damage to his body more than anyone else had.

Way to go Ash.

No words were spoken, instead taking to the routine of pulling out a stretcher for Ash. Pikachu was carried by Anabel. However when Noland reached for the Poke'ball clutched firmly in Ash's hand…

"Hsssss." Noland clutched his hand in pain as a bright red mark showed up.

"Fool." Lucy muttered. "You know that happens with legendary Poke'balls to those who are not trusted."

Noland grinned. "Hey proof of concept. Gotta make sure that's the real thing."

Scott smiled at Ash. "And that means, we now have our Eighth Frontier Brain."

* * *

Ash was dreaming, but couldn't see or hear a thing. He felt like he was floating, like a heavy weight had been taken off of his shoulders and he was climbing a mountain with ease. Another mile up. Then he could see. It was kinda dark blue, almost black, but it looked like something golden was opening. And when it did open, it showed a large winding path in front of him.

But.

No matter how many twist and turns it made, he could see it all down to the very, very far off end.

Eyes snapped open, dream forgotten. First thing he saw:

Bandages.

He sighed with his head flopping back. "Crud. I gotta stop getting hurt like this."

It was nowhere near as bad as the double Hyper Beam incident. Mainly it was just his arms wrapped around in gauze and a few bandages on his face. His chest ached a bit but everything seemed fine. No broken bones and it didn't seem like he would scar. He was more worried about his pokemon at the moment. From where he was he figured that he was back in the Battle Frontier ship. And if he was here already managed up that means, his pokemon should be in healing bay, Gabite, Glalie, Larvitar, Snorlax, Bulbasaur and Pikachu…

Wait!

He just had another one and its-

Quickly he looked around until his eyes laid on a golden topaz Poke'ball that was resting on a cushion on his nightstand. He hesitated only a little bit, before grabbing it and looking at it closely.

It reflected light so strangely, like almost made it look blue reflecting off of the gold. In fact… Ash tilted it a bit, it looked like there were red eyes staring back onto him.

"Mystifying isn't it?" a voice suddenly said.

It surprised him to the point he nearly dropped the Poke'Ball. Fumbling around for a moment before holding it steady again, Ash turned to see Anabel standing at the door with a fully healed Pikachu in her arms and Espeon at her heals.

"Pikachu Pikapi!" Pikachu squealed leaping towards Ash.

"Oof!" Ash winced when the electric type rammed his body into his.

"Watch it Pikachu. I'm kinda sore." Ash rubbed his arms.

"Pi?" Pikachu was confused as to why his trainer had been this way, especially how long he had been out.

"Your trainer thought it would be a good idea to take on a legendary all on his own." Anabel said bewildered by her own words. Her face was a cross between relief, pride and looking at him like he was a crazy fool.

"PIKACHU?!" The mouse pokemon exclaimed so loudly; it looked like he was about to faint again.

Ash grinned sheepishly. "Yeah…" He showed Pikachu the topaz Poke'Ball. The pokemon eyed it carefully, touching it with a paw. But unlike Noland, it didn't burn Pikachu. Even his starter couldn't believe what they have done. It was…

"Amazing." Ash said quietly. His dual colored eyes glowed with warmth. He showed it to Anabel. She didn't touch it of course, knowing the rules. She did however offer a smile. "I did it didn't I Anabel?" Ash asked, his joy akin to a little kid.

She blinked. "Yes. Yes you did." She sat down on the foot of his bed, espeon getting nest to her. "I'm glad I could have a part in all of this."

Ash nodded. "I wouldn't have gotten this far without you." He out stretched his hand to hers with Pikachu leaping to her shoulders. "What you've helped me with… was… greater than you would possibly know."

Anabel smiled, squeezing his hand in appreciation. "Thank you." She got up and grinned brightly. "Now you get some rest! You want to be wide awake by the time we get back to land, after all, a Frontier Brain's work is never done. Especially for our newest member! You need to catch up on the two days you slept away!"

End of Chapter 24

* * *

**Okay: Ash's aura sphere is different from the move Aura Sphere as it is not listed under a fighting type as so can affect ghost types.**

**So yeah... I did that.**

**Hoped you liked it.  
Stay tuned.**


	25. Her Eyes smile

**I AM SORRY!**

**But kinda not really...  
I'll be honest here. Chapter 23 and 24 took a lot out of me as and I was taking a break during Christmas with my family who've I haven't seen for a while and I was immediantly thrown back into school which means a lot of projects.  
Quick question:  
Does anyone else go to Savannah College of Art and Design or SCAD?  
I want to meet you.  
I have not had time to build my team for Pokemon Y either so sorry about the friend code.  
Plus I didn't really know how to approach this chapter.  
Sorry.  
**

**This chapter contains:  
Anabel.  
I am mainly focusing on Anabel on this chapter and if you don't like Anabel  
Why the crap are you reading this story?  
And you can skip it, its really nothing but character development and abilityshipping..  
AND CAMEOS!  
Who?  
You'll have to read it.  
Oh and ExtravagantShipping is back**

**And as always enjoy**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 25

Her Eyes Smile

(Two months and 20 days since of the Initiation)

"So Brock, where are you thinking of heading to study for your career as a Pokemon doctor?" Max asked excitingly. The past two days were used to discuss about how everyone was doing in the past year or years and about the future. It was a surreal experience for our heroes to go several days without some sort of adventure that wiped them out or battling Team Rocket. Without Ash, the journey seemed a lot like Barry and Zoey's who were use to the monotony. So they battled a bit, talked a lot, walked even further.

Today's discussion was about the future.

Brock thought about it. "Hmmm…. originally I was thinking of trying to find a college here but its not a major field in Kanto and its mostly catered to more female genders." His face took a handsome look. His voice got deeper. "And of course, being the gentlemen I was, I couldn't have the ladies get distracted by my good looks going there."

Everyone sweat dropped. "Let me guess, they wouldn't let you in because the Nurse Joys know about your… habits." Misty said.

"Not to mention that Croagunk wouldn't even let you 5 miles of the place." Max piped in.

Instantly Brock felt the shivers of his Poison-type's stares piercing him.

"So Misty any planes for your Gym?" Brock said in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

For some reason our favorite Water-type trainer sighed. She had been hoping to not talk about that. "Not much. You know I should be using the breaks between the Kanto League to go off and do some heavy training and looking for new water-types but…"

"You just don't have time…" May concluded knowing the feeling of not seeming to get anywhere.

"Yeah. I haven't been feeling motivated as well. I mean I go to contests but I haven't seem to come up with any new moves." Dawn said off hand. It really was true but what was causing it true… she really didn't want to admit it.

A heavy air surrounded the group, until Zoey got fed up with it.  
"Okay! I don't know if you guys have noticed it but these past few days it feels like we've been going no where. Both literally and figuratively." She got in front of the group and stared sternly at everyone. "It seems like everyone has done nothing except walk around in circles. You guys look like you've all been in a desperate need of a jumpstart and I'm starting to wonder if this is the real reason you guys are going to see Ash." Zoey shrugged. "And what are you guys going to do if he's all the way in a different region? So what if he didn't let you guys know? Not like we keep in touch with each other either."

Now Zoey wasn't angry at anyone, nor was she condescending anyone but she had a feeling that something wasn't right with all of this.  
As expected Dawn, May, Misty and Brock kinda looked affected by her words. Its true that ever since departing from Ash on their own journeys that they haven't seem to have that extra… drive.

Max and Barry didn't get it of course. Max being a new Pokemon trainer and Barry having enough of his own drive to power a locomotive.

"So what we should do?" Dawn asked.

Zoey nodded. "We run! We keep running throughout the day and train super hard during our breaks! If I know anything about Ash is that he's striving to become super strong in these past months since he left Sinnoh."

* * *

It was only a day later that Ash was back on his feet. Though he felt the eyes of all the Frontier Brains and Scott all watching him making sure he hadn't done anything reckless. They were still docked at a Sinnoh Bay, near where Ash departed. And on a whim to get away , Ash and Pikachu along with Larvitar headed to the forest. It was back to its normal self, louder and the Pokemon more visible. However it was there he was there for peace and quiet. He wanted to spend time with his Pokemon and thank them for what they had done.

But at the same time, something strange was going around Anabel and the other Frontier Brains. The problem is she didn't know what was nagging her.

_'I know there's something I'm missing._' Anabel thought ideally to herself while reading a book. Espeon was napping and it had been a relaxing morning with a cup of tea. But now, the more she thought about it, the more things seemed… off.

It wasn't an unusual thing she sensed these things, being always in tune with nature and all that. Comes with the package but… this felt… different from the other thing that we're off.

It annoyed her, feeling this way. One of her faults was being too sensitive for her, or others, own good. So unable to focus and not wanting to stir up a migraine trying to she left her room. Vaguely she wondered where Ash was but thought better of it not wanting to disturb him incase of he was still resting.

No one was in sight, the ship's lobby felt oddly empty. Devoid of human… or Pokemon.

_'Strange.' _Anabel thought looking around. If she heard correctly, there were noises coming from the kitchen.

She approached it carefully. Silly she knew but…

"ANABEL!" A head of blond leaped out.

Anabel jumped back and nearly called out a pokemon on instinct if she didn't recognize it as Greta. "Oh… hi." Anabel caught her breath. She looked around warily in case someone else was going to jump out. "What… uh… is going on?" She asked trying to peer into the mess hall. Greta however was suspiciously in her way though.

"Oh its nothing! Yoish! You know I've been thinking since its been a while that we girls have been together when we're not on mission and since we're just waiting for Scott to clear stuff up. Why don't we go to a nearby town and go hang out? Mess around with some hot-shots and take them down a peg or too."

Anabel blinked, unsure what to say. "Ummm okay."

A voice came from behind. "Great."

"Eep." Anabel... well eeped. She looked behind to see Lucy had somehow gotten behind them.

"Let's get going then." They grabbed Anabel by her elbows and hauled her away to parts unknown.

About a minute had passed before Noland poked his head out from the doorway. "Okay all clear." He waved his hand to motion the other men who came out. Brandon and Tucker came carrying boxes while Spencer who had a Breloom out watched from behind.

"You think those two can keep Anabel distracted for the rest of the day? After all she is not an easy girl to fool." Brandon said speaking from personal experience.

"She's in good hands. Why I've given those two a whole run down of the nearest towns local attractions and even better, a guide?" Tucker explained

The rest of the men tilted their heads confused. "A guide?"

* * *

"Bonjour ladies!" The three Battle Brain females were greeted by a tall woman with great purple hair dressed in a wonderful summer dress.

"Madame Lucy, Greta and Anabel I presume?" She asked.

Lucy stepped forward. "Umm yes… Oh are you Ms. Fantina? The one Tucker knows?" She asked the far more exuberant woman.

"Oh yes yes. Bon!" She did a twirl. "Tucker told me all about you three. All such fabulous trainers and you all have beauty to boot. Now, let us come and do the things we do in Sinnoh."

The ladies left together, and Anabel still their helpless victim. They came to the center of the town where all the shopping was done. Following Fantina's lead they went into one of the fanciest boutiques. Lucy and Greta didn't hesitate to follow behind, with the paychecks they got being Frontier Brains, they were used to this type of stuff.

Anabel however sighed dejectedly.  
Funnily enough, the store held the Ghost-type Gym leader's own brand of clothing that she showed the ladies their styles. The store owners made a huge fuss on how one of their top designers suddenly showed up.  
Lucy and Greta and Anabel got pulled into as models. Theme of the day, Trainer's outfits.  
Lucy had no problem showing off, being used to be fawned over by her woman posse. Greta, who was normally known as such a tomboy and fighter, hid a secretly girly side that loved to play dress up. After all one must have balance in both training, and personality

Anabel… felt very… out of place and uncomfortable. Dressing up like this, reminded her of some things she rather not care for.

_'Why do humans have to-'_ She mentally smacked herself for thinking that way. Old habits die hard. And another old habit of hers was coming to the fore, sneaking out.

She really didn't want to ditch Greta and Lucy or Ms. Fantina who she heard was a fantastic trainer but… all of this, she thought looking at the boutique full of lovely ladies who fawned over the luxurious clothing and jewelry, was not her. Sometimes she liked to play dress up… but not in front of others, with so many eyes judging her on who she should be.

So when they went to dressing rooms for another round Anabel plotted.

"Come out my friend." She called on to one of her pokemon.

"Cherrim…" A shy voice came from a velvet cover sprouting tiny legs A soothing hand started to stroke the soft petals easing the very quiet pokemon. "Cherrim."

Anabel smiled softly, petting the grass-type pokemon. "Hello there. You seem more hyper than usual." She half joked. Normally in her pokemon's petals were closed, the grass-type never really even spoke.

Cheri, cheri." The blossom pokemon hopped on her lap to show she was indeed feeling better.

"Are you well enough to do me a small favor?" Anabel asked.

"Cher."

"Good. So here what I need you to do."

* * *

"Is Anabel still in her dressing room?" Lucy asked wearing a more the reasonably fashionable trainer outfit.

Fantina walked up to the booths. "Anabel darling. Why don't you show us that wonderful dress, why its based off of a real princess don't you know?"

No answer.

"OH MY GOSH! LOOK AT THAT CUTE POKEMON!" A random woman called out in the store.

Woman flocked around table squealing and cooing at what ever was going on. Curious, the three ladies decided to check it out.

"Cherriii." On a table full of scarves was a particularly cute looking cherrim showing a delicate petal dance. It peeking in and out of the curtains looking even more adorable. The move that it was using was super cute too, as soft pink petals swooshed around her body.

"Cherrim."

Everyone hearts melted…. except Lucy's. The eyes weren't squinty enough.

Seeing that everyone was properly distracted, Anabel made her move to get out of the room and almost at the door, the sakura like pokemon did part two of her master plan.

She launched a sunny day right in the store. It dazzled the lights and nearly blinded everyone with its fabulousness.

But when the lights died down, the cherrim and Anabel were no where in sight.

* * *

In a poffin store just ten shops away from the boutique, Anabel was congratulating cherrim on a job well done.

"You earned it." Anabel said flicking a berry into the hot poffin mixture. The grass-type giggled and did another little dance similar to Ash's totodile. During the time training with Ash's pokemon with her own, the two seemed to like each other a lot with their own dance moves and hyperactive attitudes when she blossomed. And now that she was in her sunshine form, the shy pokemon was indeed that.

Anabel laughed enjoying this time. She decided to bring out the rest of her team with her. Metagross, Luxray, Dratini and Beautifly. Espeon was still back at the ship, snoozing away.

"Alright now open up." Anabel said holding a poffin in front of her grass type. They were blue speckled with yellow and had slices of berries on top.

"Cher-ri!" The blossom pokemon took the whole thing in. "Cherriiiiiiiii!" She did a twirl tasting the delicious flavors of dry and sour with the sweetness of the berry on top. Soon her little legs were kicking up can-can style showing her excitement.

"Cherii cheri cheri cheri cheri!" Cherrim started chatting away to Anabel about her thanks but all the Salon Maiden could do is smile. She sometimes had to be careful about showing her Ability to communicate with Pokemon as sometimes people began to send her stance looks or worse, they flock around her demanding to know what their pokemon are saying when they figure out her talent.

Inwardly she sighed. _'I should not shy away like this…'_ She loved helping trainers connect with their pokemon more and yet she hated it when people began to point her out like some special or spectacular person. Ash never saw her as strange or more than a trainer. He was just… honest. Goodness to gracious honest. To him everyone was special in their own different way and yet the same.

Blushing and turning away shyly she thought to herself. '_Yet… he saw me special enough to open a side to his heart that no one else has seen.' _What a contradiction.

"Alright guys who next?" Anabel called out to the rest of her pokemon trying to distract herself from her thoughts.

As she came to the last pokemon. "Luxra…" The electric type yawned before nudging his trainer. He pointed towards outside of the cafe with this tail where the three ladies Anabel oh so kindly, and bluntly, ditched were looking for her.

"Oh dear." She muttered to herself. Torn between apologizing and wanting to get away from the oppressive nature of her friends and Tucker's…. girlfriend?

Anabel then realized she was being terribly antisocial today.

Quickly she requested a box for the poffins and quickly made way through the back door without even recalling her pokemon, simply having them follow her. The slower ones staying on Metagross' back.

"Beauta?" The butterfly pokemon began to question Anabel's unsocial behavior.

"I know I know… its just…" She simply couldn't find the words. "I guess… I don't feel like hanging out with… humans." She said bluntly.

Her pokemon looked at her sadly, knowing what she was talking about.

"C'mon. Let's go find a park or cove or something. I need to clear my mind."

What would Brandon think on how she was acting now, isolating herself from society. But… somedays… she just didn't feel like it.  
She halted suddenly, causing her pokemon to look back at her. Maybe though… there was something that always got her into spirit.  
So along the alley Anabel and her pokemon sprinted for the center of town. Because… battles always took place there.

* * *

True enough to her word, there was already a battle in commence.  
Like all town squares, a fountain was dead center of the circular park. On the right was a green park but somewhat between the stone walkway and the grassy field was two pokemon and two trainer's squaring it off. A slight crowd was cheering them on with gusto.

It was a Slowking and Shinx duking it out however it seemed that the electric type was struggling against the water psysich power.

"Common Shinx! You gotta pull through this!" A green haired girl called from the side. "Thunder Fang!"

Glasses flashed. "Protect and then use Water Pulse through it."

Shinx had already leapt and plowed into the barrier and then being hit with the Water Pulse in midair.

"Inx!" This seemed to be the finishing blow for Flash Pokemon as it was knocked out with little struggle.

"Oh no! Shinx!" The green haired girl yelled out. She stomped her foot before running towards her fallen pokemon.

"Dang it! I really messed up this time." Said girl said to herself.

The glasses boy smirked. "You'll won't make it to the leagues with that power."  
It looked like the girl wanted to punch those glasses in his face until-

"Well… its kinda unfair with a infant pokemon against a fully evolved pokemon." Anabel walked up. The crowed parted ways for her and her pokemon. Anabel had that effect on people.

"I'm curious who challenged who?"

The green haired girl went right into her face."I was already battling against some other trainers when this guy challenged me! I didn't know he would be this strong!"

Glasses boy seemed unfazed by her accusation. "I was merely trying to help her show that she had a long way to go. She was boasting quiet much about being the strongest."

Anabel, being the Salon Maiden and thus required to keep a refined air, resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _'Both of them have a long way to go.'_

"While you may have had a good intention… um… ah"

"Conway."

"Conway, I understand wanting to help new trainers but you can't just brutally defeat them like that." Anabel replied. "You have to show them through technique and fines, not brute strength. You'll just crush their spirit and make things worse."

Conway's glasses glinted keeping his expression a mystery. Anabel then turned to the girl.

"You have fiery spirit but you shouldn't boast. Nothing good comes from it."

The green haired girl squinted her eyes. "And who are you to say that?"

"My name is Anabel. My profession usually has be dealing with trainers and helping them improve."

"Interesting." Conway said from afar. Still with that mysterious glint of his.

"So you help trainer's eh? Fine! My name is Angie and you are going to help me out!"

Anabel did a double take. "Wait what?" She barely got those words out before Angie started to drag her deeper in the park, Anabel pokemon following to another battle field admits the pines and oaks.

Glasses boy followed without them knowing.

"Hey! Um! What-" The Salon Maiden stammered.

Angie let go then showed a very Ash-like grin. "Yeah! If you really know what you're doing then you're going to help me out!"

While Anabel admired her enthusiasm, she wondered what she had gotten into.

"Yes please enlighten us." A voice came from behind them.

"You!" Angie yelled. "Why are you following us? You won Conway so go on YOUR way."

He smirked. "No way. I wish see this girl's 'profession' in helping trainers." He was genuinely curious about it.

Anabel sighed but decided to go along with it. She brought up her own Luxray as an example for the weakened Shinx. She didn't intend to push the little pokemon far but it wouldn't hurt to show some helpful tips.

"Well…" She went up to the Flash pokemon gently; instantly he took a liking to her by rubbing against her hand. From there the Salon Maiden was able to sense that Shinx really did trust her trainer. So they had that down, but the pokemon itself was doubtful of his own abilities.

_'We'll just need to fix that.'_

"What are you doing?" Angie asked starting to get impatient.

"Just seeing a few things." Anabel said. "Alright. I guess what you're looking for in me is how to win battles."

"Yeah!"

"I can't teach that."

"Aw man." The green haired girl complained. "Why not?"

"Because that's something that every trainer has to find out for their own." She put a hand over Luxray's course mane. "What I can show you is experience and a few tips to work with your Pokemon's power."

Angie thought about it, what this girl said did make sense. "Okay."

Conway was far more skeptical. "And you merely pet a Pokemon to sense that?"

Anabel almost paled. That guy is far more observant than she initially thought. This is why she avoided most public places these days. It was a hassle to tell people about her ability. Because they swarmed her or were far more skeptical of her claims thus leading to a headache from both ends.

"I use basic behavior a pokemon reacts to a stranger to gauge trust." It wasn't a complete lie, it did have some basis but not even the greatest Pokemon connoisseur from Unova could tell from a basic pet.

"Interesting." Conway said. Anabel narrowed her eyes, she was going to have to be careful with this guy.

"Alright. Luxray." Anabel called to the X-ray Pokemon.

"Raa."

Angie couldn't help but gulp at the fiercer evolution of her Shinx. "Am I going to have to fight… that?"

Anabel smiled. "Oh no. I just thought this would be an easier example."

Anabel began to use Luxray and her Cherim, who was still in sunshine form, to show her basic dodging maneuvers from attacks. And showing the conductive uses of electricity. Of course this was a little over Angies head.

"I don't get it." She ruffled her hair with a equally confused Shinx sat beside her.

Anabel smiled sympathetically. "I understand. My apprentice had a difficulty with his pikachu trying to learn that."

Angie had faint red blush. "A pikachu eh?" She said remember another certain pikachu trainer.  
Of course she had no idea that the other girl was talking about the same person. Such is the irony of this situation.

"Let's try this again. Its really simply just charging your own pokemon and your opponent with enough electricity and the lighting will do the rest."

"So it won't miss?" Angie summed up.

Anabel was pleased that she was getting it. "That's right. And it may have an effect of paralysis. Though…" She shifted her eyes to Conway. "Its best you don't try to challenge this guy with that move, since he would know what you're doing."

Angie also stared at Conway. "You got that right."

The glasses boy was unamused. "Must you be so cynical about me?"

Angie wasn't affected by Conway's attempt at sympathy. "Hey. Your the big shot trainer. So why does your mighty presence bother with little trainers like me and Anabel?" She said slugging her arm around the Salon Maiden.

"Hmph." The glasses kid didn't bother to correct Angie that Anabel probably wasn't a 'little trainer' like she said. "Well now knowing what I see, I would like to challenge this girl to a single battle."

The former day care girl looked like she was about to protest yet Anabel already readily accepted the challenge.

"Very well then." Anabel said. "As challenger you show your pokemon of your choice and then I shall pick mine."

Conway smiled. "Of course yet I still have a slight advantage seeing that your team is all out. And I know just the one"

Without another word, he pulled out his aggron.

Anabel was unfazed by the fierceness of Iron Armor Pokemon and brought out her own faithful steel type.

Conway didn't notice how Anabel's Metagross came to the fore without her calling to it.

"Meta." The Iron Leg Pokemon stared at it's opponent.

"Arrrrrrrr!" The standing steel type growled fiercely waiting for his trainer's orders.

Conway tried to analyze the pokemon. "A steel/rock versus a steel/psychic. Interesting."

Angie looked at them both before picking up shinx. "Hey let's give them room." She said back up a bit to give them a clear trainer space.

Meanwhile Anabel was sending a communication to her Pokemon. _'Metagross. I've decided on this battle that I will not use my empathetic link. As… well you know why.'_

"Meta." The Steel type understood perfectly.

"Good. Meteor Mash."

Metagross took Conway and Aggron by surprise with its speed. The pokemon's mighty legs crashing into the Steel/Rock types head making it see, literally stars.

"Arrrr." The Iron Armor Pokemon slide across the ground clutching its head. Temporarily dazed Anabel launched her next attack. "Psychic."

But Conway was able to react. "Protect."

And normally this would work but Anabel was an experienced trainer, not to mention a Battle Frontier Frontier Brain and figured out from long ago how to bypass this normally annoying defense.

"Attack from behind." She said simply.

"Mettaaaa." The psychic power turned into a sphere and zoomed quickly over Aggron and struck from behind. Capturing the other steel type, lifting him up and slamming him to the ground.

Conway… felt sweat from his brow. Anabel was proving to be more than a challenge than expect. _'But no matter. None of these attacks are super effective so I still can have the upper hand'_ He thought logically.

"Then Aggron use Flamethrower." Aggron with a little difficulty launched the fire type attack and engulfed the Steel/Psychic type. Yet Anabel didn't show any worry.

"Now use Iron Tail Aggron."" Conway ordered hoping to catch the girl by surprise.

"Iron Defense and use Psychic to throw the flames back." Anabel said remembering how Ash showed her that technique during training when she was using Rook against his Noctowl. It was an ingenious way to get rid of the fire.

A metallic sheen washed over Metagross and a blue flow surrounded the flames and were launched back to Aggron. Luckily since Agrron was a Rock type as well, it didn't do as much damage as it did to Metagross. Still Conway was surprise and was then reminded of a certain trainer who also was able to do unorthodox things with ease. Once again, irony played a big part here.

"Meteor Mash."

"Safegaurd!" Conway was starting to see the difference between the two Pokemon's damage. Aggron was taking more attacks than Metagross even though the steel/psychic type took damage from a super-effective fire type move. The defense on that Pokemon was quiet amazing.

Meteor Mash was luckily only hit Safeguard leaving Aggron unscathed. Until…

"Hyper Beam my friend."

"What!" Conway realized the close proximity of Iron Leg Pokemon in relation to the Iron Armor Pokemon. The bright yellow beam of the super Normal-type attack blasted Aggron onto the ground all the way to Conway's side.

"Aggron are you okay?" Conway asked obviously worried about his Pokemon.

"Arrrrr…" Came a weak reply. Things was looking bad for the glasses guy. But now that his opponent's pokemon was recharging it was a chance to strike.

"Get up close and use a Flame Thrower! Then strike with Iron Tail!" Conway was thinking fast of how to get the upper hand.

Anabel quirked an eyebrow, a slight smile showing. _'My friend stay strong.' _She told her pokemon believing in it.

_'As always Mistress.'_ It replied with the same faithful tone.

So even as the fire was shot from Aggron's mouth and surrounded it, and even with the Iron Tail constantly was beating against its metal hull, it was not deterred from its goal. To battle and to be victorious.

_'It is time!'_ Metagross let its trainer know that it was ready to battle.

"Iron Defense and Psychic. Crash him in front of you." Anabel said with a determined voice. It was time to end this.

Once the metal coat covered Metagross, the Iron Tail clinged off of it. Psychic surrounded Aggron and before the pokemon or his trainer knew it, he was sent down straight to the ground.

"Now Hyper Beam." Anabel said.

"Prot-"

The Iron Leg Pokemon was faster than the Steel/Psychic type. The Hyper Beam enveloped him completely and once it was gone, Aggron was collapsed and fainted.

Conway said nothing, surprised at the turn of events that lead up to this. He recalled his pokemon and his glasses were hiding his eyes as walking up to Anabel. "I thought you said it wasn't professional to use brute force to battle an opponent."

Anabel smiled at his words. "You're right, but if you recall my attacks I was actually trying to teach you something."

"And that is?"

"Improvisation and flexibility." Anabel said addressing both Conway and Angie. "Conway you are far too easy to predict and you just simply rely on the basic attacks. You want to out do your opponents in both power, type of attacks and keeping attacks from hit with your protection move. But that doesn't work with all battles. You need to surprise your opponent by using you moves and even the area around you to your advantage. Though I must admit my apprentice actually taught me a lot more about improvising attacks. In fact he's almost a genius on what he can do."

Conway showed surprise in his eyes. He was now starting to understand his weakness and why she was able to win so easily. "I guess I understand where your coming from."

Anabel grinned. "I'm glad." She turned to their spectator. "Angie do you understand?"

The green haired girl scratched her head. "Kinda… I guess I just gotta put it into practice before I could really get it." But she pumped her fist. "But I'm totally going to use it when I get stronger! I'm going to be the most unorthodox trainer there ever was!" She proclaimed proudly with Shinx supporting her.

"I am curious. Are you part of the Elite Four from another region?" Conway asked analyzing the Salon Maiden's skill.

Anabel laughed. "While I'm flattered that you think I'm on par with them. I am actually part of the Battle Frontier."

Conway remembered Palmer. "Oh are you from the Sinnoh Battle Frontier?"

Anabel resisted twitching her eye hearing about those punks. "Um… no. I'm from the original branch from Kanto." She reached into her pocket to pull out a business card. "We're actually about to start in a few weeks. If you ever up to it, try to contact our boss Scott. If he invites you, you'll be able to participate. And even if you don't reach me, the other Frontier Brains will teach you a lot." She handed it to Conway.

"I'll see what my options are."

"Hey can I have one?" Angie asked wanting to have one for future purposes.

"Sure." Anabel said.

"Dra dratini." The little Dragon type nudged Anabel's leg and pointed to the sun with its tail. It was past the afternoon and still falling.

"Oh dear. Looks like I need to get back. It was nice meeting you two."

"Aw but I was learning so much."Angie said deflated. But then she intently perked up. "But you and I will definitely meet again and then I'm going to battle you and I'm gonna win!"

"I'll look forward to that day."

"Thank you for the lesson." Conway said his glasses glinting.

Anabel nodded recalling her pokemon and waved goodbye to her new acquaintances. And headed off to the woods.

* * *

Ash was busy laying down on the soft grass but noticed how far the sun had fallen during the day. He leapt up calling to his Pokemon and recalling most of them in their Poke'balls. Leaving Larvitar and of course Pikachu out.

"We should head back."

"Pi"

"Tar."

They were happy and content with themselves. It was a relaxing day and they felt their strength coming back. It was the last day in Sinnoh and now it was time to head back. He had also returned to the Reverse World to talk to Giratina with some healing supplies but to his surprise, the Realm of Giratina healed Giratina. Go figure. Still, it didn't stop our hero from offering some berries in thanks. With Pikachu on his shoulder and Larvitar at his feet Ash happily walked back eager to get back to his new family and enjoy his time with them. They've done so much for them and especially his mentor Anabel and…

Ash halted in his steps contemplating something. He really should thank her properly… with… with a gift. Something unexpected from him.

"But what?" He muttered to himself.

"Pika Pikapi?" Pikachu asked what was wrong.

Ash looked deep in thought. "Well…. I'm thinking of getting Anabel a gift. For a thank you for how much she has helped us. The question is…. what do we get her?"

"Lar…"

"Kaaa.." They all mimicked their trainer's pose deep in contemplation. And as per expected they all slumped down in defeat not able to think of a thing that the Salon Maiden would like.

"Aw man!" Ash complained. He wanted to do something special, something with meaning but….. what?!

He looked around seeing nothing. "I guess we should get going. Maybe Brandon could give us an idea."

They walked in silence for a while until noticing some bright that were shimmering in the green. Ash quirked his head at this, something like that nearby Giratina's lake.

"Larvitar?" Being the youngest and drawn by shiny things curiously wandered over there without Ash and Pikachu noticing right away. But the trainer and his partner caught up to the Rock type when they noticed he was missing.

"Hey hey! Larvitar what are you doing?" Ash asked kneeling down next to his pokemon on the cool grass. "C'mon. The ship is the other way…." He stopped looking around the area and it was covered with beautiful light pink flowers that seemed to shimmer in the setting sun.

"Pikapika…"

"Lar…"

"Wow." The trio said looking at the serene scene.

_'Gracideas.'_ Ash thought to himself remembering the flowers name and their… 'grateful'... guardians. He missed that Shaymin, in fact she was the reason he met Giratina. Man, he sure owed a lot to other people for his help. But…. that's part of the of being a Pokemon trainer. You gotta rely on others, a trainer must rely and trust his pokemon and their pokemon must rely and trust their trainer.

But…

He turned to Pikachu. "Girls… girls like flowers right?"

Pikachu quirked his ears at Ash as if to say, 'no duh'.

"And Anabel, Anabel really likes flowers." You could see the gears turning in his noggin. An innocent smile spread on his face before reaching towards his belt. "Bulbasaur I need your help." He released his faithful grass type conducted his plan.

"Bulba…saaauuurrrr…" The bulb pokemon let out a huge yawn, still recovering from the fight. He looked at his trainer with dreary eyes wondering why he was called out at this time.

Ash smiled gently rubbing the grass starter's head. "Hey sorry to wake you up…. but do you think you could use Grass Knot on one of those flowers to lift it up with the dirt? I want it to stay alive."

Bulbasaur nodded respecting Ash's wish to preserve the plant. Using the roots from far below, they lifted one flower with roots and soil attached, then used the same roots to patch the land back up leaving barely a mark in the field. Ash took the plant on the ground wondering if he should really give it to Anabel like this.

"I think I can find something on the ship to put it in." Ash said to himself. "Oh, but thank you very much Bulbasaur. I'll make sure to give you an extra poke'block after you get a lot of rest." He said to his pokemon before recalling him. "C'mon guys! Let's see if we can sneak back on board before night falls."

Pikachu cast a mischievous glance at his trainer, remembering that they were technically suppose to be resting.

"Lar larvitar!" Once again, the Rock-Skin Pokemon took off running leaving Ash and Pikachu in his dust. Basically challenging them to a race.

Ash laughed taking off running easily keeping up with his youngest pokemon despite of his light injuries. It took hardly anytime to reach the ship but Ash reminded Larvitar to slow down as they had they haul themselves back up secretly. Luckily for them there was no one on deck, allowing them to climb through the open window they left. Ash held the plant safely in his arms looking around the room to see if there was anything he could put it in.

Pikachu and Larvitar helped by pointing out a good sized paper cup in his room. It would fit the bottom of the plant perfectly while allowing some water to reside on the bottom as well.

Ash smiled petting both of his pokemon. "Thanks guys." He said before taking care of the flower. And the more he thought about it the more he thought the gracidea was perfect, remembering the meaning of it was thankfulness and gratitude. He was grateful for meeting and picking Anabel for she has done so much.

And he would always be grateful.

* * *

Anabel really didn't want to face the other Frontier Brains right now. She would have to explain her ditching, and that would lead to just an awkward situation. Besides, she wanted her Luxray and Metagross to rest up for today and get this odd day over with. She spotted her window on the ship's hull and being the good trainer she was, contacted her Espeon to give her a lift.

_'You shouldn't have ditched the other Frontier Brains.'_ She felt a gentle scolding in her head.

Anabel sighed knowing that her best friend was right. But… but there was really no excuse.  
_'Sorry.'_ Anabel said feeling a bit down. Sometimes she forgot that it was Espeon who was really concerned about her social life. The psychic type made it a goal in her life to keep Anabel's interactions with humans and pokemon balanced but sometimes… the Salon Maiden slipped.

_'Alright fine I'll pull you up. But you better explain to the others why you left them.'_ Espeon communicated before lifting her psychic powers to get Anabel to the window. The human crawled through the window unnoticed.

"Are they here on the ship though?" She asked her pokemon. The sun pokemon nodded saying that they were downstairs at the kitchen.

Anabel once again sighed, agreeing that she would go see them after she rested up Metagross and Dratini and look for her Legendaries. She was stalling yes, but Espeon approved of those conditions.

Though…

Anabel blinked for a moment unsure if she was seeing right. "Ash what are you doing here?" And yes the newest Frontier Brain was standing in the infirmary room. Said boy turned around quickly and grinned seeing it was just Anabel. "Oh. I'm just making sure my Pokemon are recovering properly. That's what this room is used for right?"

Anabel shook her head realizing her foolish question. "Oh right." She said walking past him to heal her own pokemon.

Pikachu, in a case that was helping him regain his strength faster, waved to Anabel. "Pika-ka."

Anabel smiled softly waving back before turning in the poke'balls in the healing machine. Larvitar also came up, done from his healing, to give her leg a hug. She in turn patted him on his head.

Ash however tilted his head confused. "Hey… are you… alright?" He asked uncertain of his words.

Anabel was a bit shocked at his observation. "How…"

"Your eyes aren't smiling." Ash said simply. To him it was a matter of fact. He could tell; her eyes seemed to glow, and were super focused and her eyebrows were always high when they smiled when when she wasn't smiling herself, so that meant she was happy. When she was sad, stressed or angry her eyes grew dull and they seemed to be distracted by some mysterious force.

_'Once he sets his mind to something, Ash is surprisingly observant.'_ Anabel thought to herself, after hearing his explanation. She briefly wondered if she could eluded the conversation that would happen if she answered. However she saw that he was giving her such a look of care and firmness, especially that Pikachu was with him now giving her the same look, that she knew that they would not let her go so easily.

"I…" Anabel started shyly. "I've been… off."

"Off how?" Ash pestered. He watched Anabel avoid his eyes and that made him furrowed his brow.

Anabel was unsure how to approach this while not talking too much about her personal issues thought about what to say next. "Well.. I just felt like not hanging out today with… with anybody really except… except my pokemon." She said as if she was ashamed of herself.

Ash blinked than started to laugh. "Why are you so worried about that? I did the same thing today. Heck I snuck out just to hang out with them in the woods."

The Salon Maiden shook her head. "No Ash. Its different. We'll it started this morning-"

So Anabel explained the events that transpired this day. THough she left some of her more private thoughts out, she did admit that she didn't feel like hanging out with Greta or Lucy and simply didn't around people in general.

As for her encounter with Conway and Angie, she only said she met two trainers as she thought that the names wouldn't have much affect.

But then she still didn't feel satisfied and just…

"Low." She finished as they walked out to the lobby not noticing it was awfully dim.

Ash and Pikachu looked quietly towards the girl they cared about, choosing their words carefully.

"Hey Anabel I-"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Both Ash and Anabel yelped out loud and Entie and Raikou bust through the deck doors. They heard the panicked voice of their mistress and were ready to attack who ever caused this.

However…. it was the exact opposite.

All the Frontier Brains and Fantina (and Scott) burst out of the kitchen's doors with light still dim with a nice sized cake and several presents on a tray with several decorations surrounding them, many had halted when seeing Anabel and Ash having frozen faces of shock and two of the Legendary Beast looking quiet fierce.

"Wha?" Ash spurted out.

"Happy Birthday?" Anabel said quietly, then smacked her forehead. "Oh right! Today's my birthday I completely forgot." She looked wearily at everyone. "Oh geez. I thought I told you guys I really don't like big birthday celebrations."

Scott smiled. "Seems like you've had your head full today." He said patting Anabel on her back. "But I'm sure everyone understands." She knew he was talking about Lucy, Greta and Fantina. Greta slugged her arm over her shoulder, Lucy and Fantina stood and smiled.

"We know you weren't doing anything mean to us." Lucy said kindly.

"Vrai." Fantina continued. "I am terribly désolé that I did not consider asking you what you would like to do."

"Yoish. Heard you helped some trainers in the Square though. Lot of people were talking about how you were able to offer advice to two different trainers. That's more of your thing after all."

"That is what being a Frontier Brain is all about." Spencer said with admiration. "Despite of your difficulties with today you still stepped up to the mountain for others."

Anabel was truly grateful from the bottom of her heart that she had such good friends.

"Still. I'm sorry, I've should've been more considerable towards you guys."

Brandon smiled holding a cake with candles in it. "Yes but sometimes we need to have our time to ourselves, though-" He grinned unlike anyway Ash and Pikachu had seen before, it was completely out of character. "I think that for your birthday at least, you should be with the ones you care about."

Anabel felt something nudging her leg and back. Espeon, Raikou and Entie were urging her on. She smiled at the happy Frontier Brains, her family.

"I guess your right." She said before blowing out the candles.

A large cheer follow; the lights came on showing everyone's pokemon including some of the legendaries were there to celebrate this.

"OH CRAP! HOW COME NO ONE TOLD ME IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY?!" Ash yelled out loud; he did this now because he was finally over his temporary paralysis from surprise. Now after watching everything and finally clicking in his head, let's just say… he was a little bummed out.

Ash, Pikachu and Larvitar sunk down to their knees with a depressing aura around them. "I'm not a good partner. I don't even have a present prepared for you."

"Pi pika pi…"

"Tar… tar…"

"Oops. Knew we were forgetting someone." Noland said sweat dropping. Lucy and Greta glared at him but did nothing when Anabel confronted the problem.

"Hey hey Ash. Don't worry about it. I forgot too and don't worry about the present. Seeing you overcome your fears and become a Frontier Brain is enough for me." Anabel said with her hand on his back. What she was saying was true, belief and courage of these months have been outstanding.

And Ash saw what he wanted to see. _'Her eyes are smiling again.'_

Behind them they heard the faint whisper of Noland. "So cute." Instantly the two teens and their starters shot a glare towards the Factory Head with Pikachu sparking his cheeks. Noland wasn't scared though, smiling away. "Hey hey calm down you two."

"And now that the wish had been asked for, it is time for the most spectacular event, the opening of ones gift to the heart of the soul!" Tucker announced.  
Basically that meant time to open presents.

And it was a lot of fun. It was a simple birthday with stuff-filled rice balls for dinner and cake for dessert. The presents were nice as well, Ash observed.

Most of them books, however there was the odd end of a bit of jewelry and a simple but nice dress from Tucker and Fantina. Espeon and the rest of Anabel's team including the legendaries presented a small gem.

The rest of the night drifted off easily with everyone bidding each other goodnight.

However…

Anabel rested inward to her thoughts staring at the night sky, stars glimmering like jewels embedded on a black velvet blanket. She liked staring up at the night like this. It reminded her when she first struck out as a trainer with only Espeon, who was an Eevee at that time, by her side. They slept on the grass together as they had no bed and so the stars were sometimes the only company they had when there were no other wild pokemon around.

Just the two of them.

She saw Espeon leap on the railing and leaned on to her. The Salon Maiden smiled and hugged her back at the comfort her best friend offered, they were always together.

"Pikapika pika."

"That's right buddy, right there is the Pikachu constellation." A voice came to the side. This time it didn't startle Anabel as it was more relaxing despite how rough his voice normally is.

He walked up to Anabel and pointed to some stars on the left side of her. "You see there Anabel? That's the Pikachu constellation. You can normally tell because there some stars that make a perfect circle that shows the pikachu's cheeks."

Anabel blinked trying to see. "Oh wow. You right. I do see a pikachu."

"Pika!"

"Your right. You much cuter Pikachu." She said smiling.

Ash smiled. "So… ah… how old are you now?" He asked curious.

"Well as of today I am now fifteen." Came the simple answer.

However Ash's jaw dropped. "WHAT? That's mean's you're older than me!"

More or less, Anabel was confused by this statement. "I don't get what's wrong."

Ash shifted his eyes nervously thinking it would be more tactful not to tell her that he thought he should be older in the relationship because… he was a guy. "You know what? Never mind."

She couldn't help but smile at his silliness. It was refreshing considering the day.

Ash leaned on the railing with Pikachu hoping on top of it, equivalent to Espeon's balance.  
"So tell me, why don't you like big birthdays?"

Anabel whipped her head to him, shocked that Ash was being so observant.

"What do you mean?" Anabel tried to play dumb.

However Ash was no fool, he turned his eyes straight at her, his aura blue one glowing in the darkness intensifying the stern look he was giving her. "Don't play dumb with me Anabel. I may be dense but I'm not stupid. You got some problems with you past birthdays don't you?"

Anabel sighed in defeat. How come everyone that truly cared about her were able to read her like a book. But then she smiled. "Spencer was right. You catch on fast."

"Hmm?" Ash wasn't sure what that meant but let her continued talking. He watched her lean on the railing and about to speak, but he interrupted. "Hey you don't need to tell me everything… I just, I just feel like that why you were 'off' today was probably the same reason you really don't like birthdays. Like I said you don't need to say everything but get the thing off your chest and I'll help ya and so will Pikachu."

"Pika ka."

It was amazing how much the dense trainer who knew nothing of romance or sensitivity had become someone so caring and supporting to a girl he liked. The Salon Maiden took a deep breath before speaking. "Let's just say… I come from a… wealthy family that kinda acted like royalty." Ash nodded waiting for her to continue. "And that when ever I had a birthday that I dressed up as a princess and all the servants and maids would attend for every whim and parade me around our… 'home' like I truly was."  
Ash noticed a bitter glint in Anabel's eyes. Something that really was deep down in her soul. "But I was sick of it. Sick of the falseness and the grandeur. My birthday was the pinnacle of those elements so I began to associate my birth date with the things I don't like." She took another deep breath.

"Epheee…" The Sun Pokemon earned her on, supporting that Anabel was making the right choice.

"I didn't have any friends with me during these parties and I could tell that the servants were obligated to 'like' me. That's why I really don't like to be with people sometimes."

"What about your par-" Ash clamped his mouth shut realizing the insensitive question.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu scolded Ash sensing Anabel's emotions to the enquiry.

Anabel with no humor quirked an eyebrow. "My parents?"

"Anabel I'm sorry I shouldn't ha-"

"No it's alright. Its a normally question anybody would ask." She looked forlorn, like an abandon cub. "I never knew my mother, so I guess she died right after I was born. As for my… father…. he was never around so… It's all one big mess isn't it?" She tried to say that with humor but Ash could see a small tear in her eye.

"Pi chu pika."

Ash frowned looking more out of the horizon.

"You know. I don't really know my dad either."

Anabel did not expect to hear that. "Huh?"

Ash kept looking out. "He left when I was really really young. So it was just me and mom growing up. I never understood why he left, no one would answer me whenever I asked, so I stopped asking. From what I gather, he was a Pokemon trainer that was always trying to do great things. And he left to follow some, I dunno a 'dream'." Ash had the same bitter frown Anabel had on not too long ago.

"When I asked my mom what was he like, she would always smile and say he was a great man and never said anything wrong about him even though sometimes I noticed her eyes were red after a while I asked that. So I asked Professor Oak about him. All I got was a stern glare and was told to not mention, and I quote, 'that man again'. Other people in the town simply ignored me and I think it was because my of my dad leaving I didn't have many friends before I became a trainer."

He was still frowning but it was more of something determined. "Y'know, I think it's because of my old man being a Pokemon trainer and he left that mom didn't allow me to play with pokemon much unlike my friends Gary so I wouldn't want to become a trainer myself. That was one of the reasons I wasn't a very good one when I started out… besides being pretty dense. Also that I had no one to teach me about being a trainer" He tried to smile but the girl in front of him could tell that he did have some issues with that. "But despite of my mom's best wishes I finally convinced her to let me become a pokemon trainer. Though I didn't realize it back then, it must've been a lot for her to let me go."

He laughed humorless. "It's funny… I think one of the reasons and its only just one… I want to become a Pokemon Master is because I want to show the guy who left my mom and I that… I became greater than he would be younger than him… and still have time to visit my mom." He smiled and turned to Pikachu. "And we call mom during our journeys ever so often and we make sure to visit here before going off to a new one. Right Pikachu?"

"Pi Pikachu!" The electric mouse pokemon agreed. It was always nice to see Delia for she was a good parent.

Anabel was… more or less to say, taken aback by how honest and blunt Ash was being about his family life. She…. she really didn't know what to say. But she understood what he was trying to say. He knew what it was like to have be alone as a kid before being friends with pokemon. That, and he was saying that he trusted her. He was open like that, a heart that welcomed everyone in.

Ash interrupted her when she was about to speak. "Hey, you don't have to tell me everything yet. I'll just wait until you are ready okay?" He said making her speechless.

"Ephee." Espeon approved of Ash's reason, earning even more respect of the pikachu trainer then ever before.

Ash showed a bitter grin. "It's funny. Why do we have such awful dads? Y'know if I ever become a dad, I'm gonna stick with my kids and help them become strong as well."

This caused his partner to crack a smile. "So you want to have kids to be a dad?" She said between giggles.

Instantaneously Ash blushed, red covering his whole face that seem to glow in the dark of night. Pikachu and Espeon were laughing at Ash's reaction. He shot him a quick glare before turning to Anabel stuttering for an explanation.

"Well…. well… I…. I… Eventually! I… I- I- I mean that once I become a Pokemon Master than… I should go and try live out my next dream of… of being the best dad ever." He cried out defiantly trying to figure out the best answer. This did nothing to quell the laughter emitting from the three.

Despite of this, Ash did smile seeing something.  
"Your eyes are smiling now." He said looking at her.

Anabel stopped her laughter but the smile was still there even when she looked away trying to hide her blush.

Now it was Ash's turn to chuckle, though kindly. It did stop however when he felt a some warm arms wrap around him. He felt a pressure on his chest and saw that he was enveloped in a hug. It was a bit different from the normal hugs he gotten in the past.

"Thank you." Anabel said softly. "You and Pikachu really are amazing people."

Ash didn't pull away while he scratched his head. "Aw shucks Anabel." He said humbly. "Your the one we should be thanking…" A lightbulb popped in his head. "Oh shoot I forget! I ah"

"Pikachu Pikapi."

"Epheee Espeon" Ash and Anabel turned to the two Pokemon called out.

(What Anabel heard: "Here it is Ash." "Oh my that's beautiful.")

Pikachu was holding something

Ash grinned big time. "Pikachu your the best!" He said picking something up that Anabel couldn't see. He hid it behind his back when he turned it to her. "Funny thing is. I didn't know it was your birthday and so I didn't really get you a present for that. However what's funny is Pikachu and I wanted to give you a gift. So… from me, and all my team, for every pokemon that I've trained and befriended, and from the… the very bottom of my heart. Thank you for everything you've done Anabel."

And then he presented Anabel with a beautiful soft pink flower in a plastic cup, but she didn't even noticed the later, so immersed in the elegant flower.

"Pika pikaka."

_("It's called a gracidea")_

Anabel looked up, she had almost forgotten there were others here.

She saw Ash's dual colored eyes staring at her with the utmost… gratitude.

"This flower, is a symbolizes thankfulness. You really done a lot for us… and especially me. So… I know you like flowers, since I remember when we first met, you used a flower to well to try to explain to me your Ability. I didn't get it back then… but… I think I get what you were trying to say a little bit better now." He stood up strait, looking less like a gangly teen and more of a strong man following his dream. "Everyone is special but that doesn't mean that you are higher than anybody else and that doesn't mean anybody is lower than you. We all play a part and… sometimes we gotta depend on each other to walk the path incase we stumble, even a flower can give you hope when your feeling down."

He really has changed from the lost boy of over two months ago. He has changed from a child who was scared of change to an almost man who accepts things how they are. He was taller, and defiantly stronger, but he also trusted others more with his large heart. Yes he had gotten more rash and prone to action more than thinking but it was more for the right purpose and what he believed in his heart than with simple ignorance. He was now back on track to follow his dream, and he was walking with confidence. But now… he had more people and pokemon that had his back. And he had Pikachu on his shoulder to be his companion and now… in his hand, he had a a really super person by his side.

His teacher, his friend, his equal in battle, his fellow Frontier Brain and his partner of affection, the Salon Maiden: Anabel.

Anabel had said nothing as she hugged the pot to her chest but Ash understood. It was like how she battled, she didn't need words.

So they stared at each, content in it the simpleness of it.

And yet… there was something… missing?

They didn't know what to do.

However naturally Pokemon knew what to do. So Espeon and Pikachu rolled their eyes before Pikachu smacked Ash's head forward.

And what happened… was obvious.

It was short and soft. But it was still their first.

Right on the lips.

They separated in a seconded their eyes wide and their face's have never been redder. They were speechless. And their minds, was a combination of being in overdrive to what just happened but at the sometime, completely blank.

If what these two felt was love, love kinda does that to you.

"Uhhh….

"Ummmm…."

Ash bit his lip. "So…" This was reeeaaallly awkward for the both of them. It was making the air like thick as a Muk's goo.

Anabel too mimicked his action. "That was…"

"Something?" Ash guesed.

"Yeah."

They avoided eyes, in fact not even looking at each other.

"It was nice." Ash said. It was the truth, it was indeed nice.

"Yeah."

That only eased the tension a little.

"So… ah see you tomorrow?" Ash said deciding not to push it.

"Yeah."

"Okay…"

Anabel began to walk away but stopped. "Oh and Ash?" He turned to her still embarrassed and afraid she didn't like it.

She smiled, pure and sweet. "Your the one I should be thanking. And… I really did like it. I'll see you later, Ash and Pikachu." And so with only the elegance as a girl could walk in this situation, the Salon Maiden headed to a restful sleep.

"Bye…" Ash waved and just stood there still regeristing what she just said and what just happened. And when it did a dopy grin spread across his face and he sighed gladly still looking from where she just left.

"Pika pika."

"Yeah I know."

"Pi."

"Definatly."

He turned to Pikchu. "So… did you know… that… _that_ was that nice?"

Pikachu shook his head but grinned knowingly anyway. He had a feeling about it.

"It really is nice."

And then unexpectedly:

"YEAH!" Ash Ketchum yelled out to the night sky on how awesome this was!

"SHUT UP!" Someone (probably Lucy) yelled from a window.

Ash grinned sheepishly at Pikachu on his shoulder and whistled along his way back to bed.

And so the two teens, slept good tonight. Dreaming of Pokemon battles… and to what was the most romantic thing for them:

To battling against each other. For, this was love for them.

End of Chapter 25

* * *

**Hehe...fluff**

**I hope I portrayed Angie and Conway correctly.  
Tell me what you guys think.**

**So what is Anabel's past?  
I'm not telling but what I will hint at:  
IT HAS FORESHADOWING TO A POSSIBLE SEQUEL!**

**...**

**FLUFF!**


	26. It All Comes Together

**Hey everyone its True-InTha-Blue!**

**And I am really sorry how long this chapter took to write!  
But I did promise an update once a month so I made it in the march catagory!  
**

**Unfortunately**** that meant I had to cut this chapter in half. But I do see this is already pretty long so I hope this fills your appetite.**

**This chapter contains!  
ABILITYSHIPPING!**

**Just cute fluffy stuff and the wrap up of Ash's initiation.**

**Not much to say except  
Enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 25

It All Comes Together

(Two Months and twenty two days since the initiation)

The next day since last night…

Was calm.

Despite of the craziness of getting a legendary for Ash, Anabel's birthday and the two's first kiss, everyone was glad to head back. And did this mean last night's awkwardness was still remaining for Ash and Anabel?  
Of course not.  
They were fine with each other's presence and acted normally as they ever had. Why the crap should they be awkward? Sure the kiss was new but it was nice.

Did this mean they would kiss more often?  
No.

There Ash and Anabel, they didn't really see much use of it.

However there was a certain closeness that wasn't there before. It was rare but it did give Spencer a smile when he saw the two huddled together with their starters in a hammock. They were totally asleep almost oblivious on how close they were to each other but you could tell… they were happy.

Spencer made sure to keep his mouth shut, he didn't want the others to make fun of the two.

There was one event. Though...

_**"Dear Passengers, This is Captain Noland speaking. We have an unexpected guest flying towards our ship. So does anyone happen to know someone with a flygon? If so please come to the deck. **_

As always Ash and Anabel were already out on deck, when the Flygon flew down. No surprise the package it was carrying was for Ash.  
"Pika pika." Pikachu tugged on Ash's hair to take a better look at the Pokémon.

It only took Ash a second to realize who it belonged to.  
"Oh wait your Jed's Flygon." Anabel called out before Ash could. Said trainer had to swallow his sentence.

"Fle fle. Flygon."

Anabel easily translated it. "Jed sent you here?" She took a look at the parcel in its claws. "I guess it's for you." She told Ash. Without question, the new Frontier Brain opened it up curious to see what the Aura Philosopher wanted to give him.

Inside was a case the size of his hand, a bottle of clear liquid and a letter addressed to him.  
It went as this and written in terrible penmanship.

_Dear Apprentice and cousin Ash,_

_Hey I want to say once again thank you for visiting me on Merry Isle. Hope you guys enjoyed the visit there, sorry we couldn't battle though. __I wanted to give you these while you were here but they were still in development._

_But what are 'these' for?_

_It occurred to me before I left Kanto that it was not fair how I was able to hide my Aura Anchor and you are not because it is on your eye. __Mine being on the back of my hand and with a glove…. (_a bunch of scratched out words followed)

_Never mind I'm rambling._

_So…  
__I got you some eye contacts that match the color of your right eye. So… people should stop staring at you like your some kind of weirdo, and that's just not right because we all know I'm the weird guy here. Of course if you use your aura powers at any time your left one is going to start glowing like a nightlight even without aura sight so make sure you keep yourself in check okay?_

_They work almost like basic ones however these will blend into your iris naturally and you won't have to take them off when you sleep and make sure the others are kept in liquid that comes in that bottle._

_However they do dissolve over time in you eye so I got you several of them for when that happens. They should last a while before you need more; when you do, give me a call beforehand and I'll send them to you. Of course you better contact me when your on your last one because it will take a while for me to contact my 'friends' who made these to make more._

_Hey. Tell me when you go to certain areas, I may have some of these 'friends' there that will help you with your aura powers. I'll notify them if you are ever in need of assistance. It will help in the future_

_Anyway, I hope to see you again by the time you get your Battle Facility and I hope for a match with the newest Frontier Brain soon._

_Give Anabel my regards._

_You Cousin (three times removed but whatever) and Aura Teacher,_

_Jed._

_P.S. Spinda wants to say hi to Pikachu and Espeon._

_P.P.S_

_You may not get this but… the Mighty Helix Fossil has spoken! ….and then go down.  
__...  
__Have fun with that._

The trio bid the flygon farewell as it flew back to his trainer.  
Ash Pikachu and Anabel took inside the case and loll and behold there were ten amber discs all in individual sections floating in liquid.  
"Oh wow. Jed certainly thinks these things through right Ash?… Ash?" Anabel looked at the confused face that dotted Ash's face as he stared intently at the contacts. Pikachu looked between Ash and Anabel, kinda confused to what was going on.

"Pika pika pi pikapi?" He asked Anabel for help with Ash.

"You don't know how to put them on do you?" She summed up raising a brow.

Ash cringed before shutting the case. "Uh… no… not really. Do you?" He looked at her pleadingly.

Anabel cringed as well. "I think I might. How much do you trust me?"

Ash being blissfully naive smiled. "With my life."

Few minutes later.

"AHHHH AHHHHH! MY EYE!"

"Ash I told you to-"

"IT BURNS! ALL I SEE IS PAIN!"

"PIKACHU!"

"Pikachu, Esepon hold him down before- '!' NOW!"

"OOHHH GA-… ….  
Oh wow its gone."

They were in a public restroom, Pikachu and Espeon as holding Ash down on the ground while Anabel held him in a head lock from trying to adjust the contact in Ash's eye. It was now safe to release the trainer from her grip and take a good look at the thing that caused them so much problems. The four stared at the mirror looking at Ash's now similar colored eyes, of course the left had its sclera bright red from the 'irritating' situation from earlier. It would fade eventually. The Pikachu Trainer blinked a bit before turning to the other three.

"They look back to normal. He got the color spot on."

Anabel, Espeon and Pikachu tilted their heads to get a good look.

"I have to say though, I've kinda grown use to you having one blue and one amber. But I have to say, I think amber suits you the best." She said completely honest. It was an honest truth to Anabel and was an unintentional compliment.

Completely slid past Ash.  
That's how they work.

The two Pokémon were surprised that neither of the humans got the compliment and sighed with good humor.

"Pika…"

"Eeph."

"I thinking I'm gonna consult Bulbasaur on this."

* * *

The ride back to the shores of Kanto was uneventful but that's something all the Frontier Brain's needed once in a while.

That's all that really all happened.

It was at the docks at Kanto at night that things began to start.

"Frontier Brains, line up!" Scott ordered.

As if trained, the seven Brains lined up in a straight line. It took a second for Ash to realize that applied to him too now and quickly got into formation with them, Pikachu doing the same next to Ash.

"Alright Frontier Brains. As you know another has joined our ranks and it will be almost a little more of a month before the battle Frontier begins. However it would be best if we got our newest member acquainted with his facility in the following four days." Scott started out.

This actually surprised, not just Ash and Pikachu but all the Frontier Brains. Usually when a member was going to join their ranks it took a full three months until they official became a full part of the Battle Frontier. But then again Ash did hold record for capturing his legendary the fastest.

But it didn't take a genius for all of them to suspect that Scott was up to something; they agreed to his plan. That meant they had to gather when Scott's bus to head to Ash's Battle Facility, it should be built by now, as said trainer would go head to get things settled. But what was the rest of the time going to be used for? That was still a mystery to everyone except their boss.

And yet the other part of four days until get his battle facility both excited and deflated Ash a bit. He was hyped to get started, but on the other hand that meant less time having fun with Anabel and not being able to see the people at Cobalt Port who he had grown quiet fond of.

But that was part of growing up he supposed.

Everyone did a quiet congratulation to Ash for his achievement before they all went their separate ways back to each respecting Battle Facility, either by shuttle or Pokémon. Until there was Ash and Pikachu and Anabel and Espeon left in the dark.

They looked at each other and looked back… and then looked at each other again with a competitive grin on their faces.

"Wanna race?" They asked at the same time.

They both knew the answer so they didn't waste anytime with Anabel throwing down the Legendary's poke'balls. The two beast had sensed the humans intent and willingly let them climb on their backs in preparation to the race.

In fact, the beast didn't mind it at all. It was simple fun to just speed across against on or more of their brothers or sisters. The human's with their starters got on their backs and they took off like the wind. Through the streets and over the buildings of the urban areas to rocky crags and lush fields covered in the blanket of night. They could feel the human's hands clutch tighter to their fur trying to stay on them, but of course Raikou and Entei well knew that the humans could handle faster speeds, and nothing stopped them when they took it up a notch.

Plains became solid green and trees became a blur, yet despite of the great velocity no one got hit by trees or even the low branches. It took five more minutes when they reached back to Anabel's place with Raikou and Anabel coming in first with Ash and Entei just trailing behind by a second.

The Salon Maiden leapt from the beast and gave a whoop that was unlike her; even she had her moments. Going on with her enthusiasm espeon jumped to give a high five with her tail and Raikou doing the same with his paw.

Ash and Pikachu had already gotten off Entei, all three of them grinning at the other team despite of their lost. The human turned to the legendary and smiled.

"Can't win them all eh?" He asked the entei.

He saw the Volcano Pokémon smiled with his mask before the larger beast stood on its hind legs and pushed the human down in a playful shove.

"Entei?" Anabel noticed the ruffling about the other two were getting in. The Pokémon and Ash with his face on the ground were laughing at the antics. It was a form of simple fun. Just them being friends and not even realizing that they were separate species. This continued on to the house were they talked to each other and played and jumped and play fight with each other.

But soon the fun had to end.

The humans and starters were going to enter the house when they sensed that the Legendary Beast had stopped.

Instantly Anabel turned with a sigh. Ash rose an eyebrow and asked what was wrong. Anabel, though not intentionally, ignored him; her attention on the Pokémon before her.

"You guys have to go don't you?" She said a bit sadly.

"Ephee.." Espeon nudged her trainer's leg in support when the beasts nodded.

"What?" This surprised Ash. He had forgotten that part of the trio of the Brass Tower Beast roam the world unbound. "Ah…." He took a quick look to Pikachu for help before stepping up besides Anabel.

He noticed that his partner didn't look that sad, but with a face of more of wistful acceptance at the fact. "Yeah. They came because they sensed you were near finish with your training. As with all legendaries they gather to see if the new Frontier Brain is worthy." She turned to him and smiled. "And as you can tell, you obviously were." She said causing him to smile and blush sheepishly.

"Well I guess this is goodbye for now." She said to her legendaries. But she smiled. "I'll look forward for your next visit guys." Anabel leaned to to hug the beast burying her face in their manes. Both rumbled gently showing her that they will always come back. She was their trainer and their friend.

Letting go, the two humans watched as two of the Brass Tower Trio turned to leapt and ran through the fields and forest with lighting and sparks of fire trailing behind them. They watched on and on until there was no trace that the beasts were ever there.

"You really are close to them." Ash said holding Pikachu. They watched her reaction.

The Salon Maiden started to pet Espeon. "Yeah… they are. They have been with me for some time now." She stood up and surprisingly she looked fine. "So what do you want to do?"

"Hmmm?" He was confused by the sudden turn of emotion.

Anabel once again smiled but this was a little bit more sad. "Well if you remember what Scott said… you have four… well technically three days left with you as my apprentice."

Then Ash got what she was saying. "Ah… that's right. Once I get there I won't be able to see ya that much anymore." His voice was a bit sad but then it dramatically turned determined. "But you know what? Who cares?" He said with a big grin.

Anabel turned to him confused, so Ash clarified. "I mean, I know you like me, and you know I like you. Sooo… do really need to constantly be with each other to show that? I don't think so because I think that so long as we don't lose contact, words and the short visit would be even more precious."

What Ash was saying is that he knew he and Anabel didn't need to be constantly be with each other is because they did have their own lives and needed to see the world around them. Each other, though important, was only one part of their lives. An aspect of who they were.

Hearing this, it made sense to the Salon Maiden, understanding that what Ash was saying is that they were tough enough to endure it. She brought out another aspect. "And despite of what people may think, we're still friends."

"Yeah. Its like you with your legendaries, they may not be here, but you know they want to." They did a slight fist bump to show their comrade.

"So what do you want to do for the rest of our time?" Anabel asked walking to the training area to check up the rest of their Pokémon.

Ash thought about it for a while. Taking a look at Pikachu who was fully laying down on his shoulder and not half standing like the Mouse Pokemon normally was. He was still awake but you could tell he was obviously tired. His trainer's eyes softened at the sight.

"You know-" He turned to Anabel. "I think… we should just relax."

This was surprising coming from the never-ending bundle of energy that was of Ash. Anabel looking at him though, saw that he was indeed tired. Not just wanting to go to bed tired, but needed a rest from the constant incline that his life had been on recently. He's been through a lot, and now, he needed to take a break from this.

"Yes, a rest sounds nice."

* * *

Ash was surprised when he saw the Salon Maiden setting out bed mats on a hill nearby. Pikachu and Espeon were already snoozing on the grass.

"What this for?" He asked.

"Its been a while since I've slept outside with the stars. I thought as a fellow trainer you would miss that as well seeing as you have been cooped up inside lately."

This did strike something inside the new Frontier Brain. He had been sleeping inside lately, even though he spent a lot of time outside during the day. Still a part of him was missing the time of the wild during his was something to being exposed to the elements after dark with no trace of any human settlement.

"Sounds like a plan." Ash said laying down on the mat with Anabel taking the other one. The sounds of nocturnal Pokémon were amuck through the flora. You could see the small glowing lights of Cobalt Port but besides that the only light was the stars above.

"So are you going to teach me the rest of those star consolations you know about?" Anabel asked smiling.

Ash returned it. "Oh right. Hehe."

Not to wake their starters up, Ash talked quietly about which grouping of stars formed which Pokémon or sight. In fact they were up for an hour talking about these things, until Anabel asked.

"So how do you know all of these?" Anabel asked about to drift to sleep.

Ash too was sleepy but managed to say enough. "When… when I was young I used to pretend that the Pokémon in the stars were part of my team, since I couldn't hang out with any." He yawned. "I also learned a lot more from… from a jirachi."

"Neat." Normally anyone would be shock and extremely beyond skeptical hearing that boy said he met a legendary as rare to see every thousand of years. But from what Anabel had learned recently, Ash who was a remarkable guy, saw remarkable things.

"Hey Ash?" She wanted to ask one more question before she let slumber over take her.

"Yeah?" Ash was hardly conscious already.

"How come your cheeks have lightning bolts on them?"

"…..(yawn)… Birthmarks."

"So you're a Pikachu boy?"

"Don't…. call…. me… that."

The snoozed the rest of the night away not at all perturbed. It was a warm summer night with nothing but peace.

It was Pikachu softly slapping his face that woke Ash up to the sun rays. He winced at the bright sky and yellow fur of his starter, lightly swatting Pikachu's paws away.

"I'm up… I'm up." He groaned getting up. He looked over to see Espeon pawing Anabel's hair trying to wake her trainer up. It was failing.

Boys would think it seeing the girl curled up tightly on the sleeping mate cute; all Ash thought that she looked peaceful.

"Should I wake her up?" He whispered to Pikachu.

"Pi." It wouldn't be very polite to leave the girl all alone up here.

"Right." Turning over to her, Ash thought of how to wake her up. It seemed like calling her name and just giving her a slight shake should do.  
"Yo Anabel." He said quietly giving her arm a shake. She didn't wake up. Scratching his head, he never thought of her as a heavy sleeper. "Hey Anabel." Ash said louder this time.  
"Ana-" Lavender eyes shot open.

_TWACK!_

"HOLY-MMMMMMMMMM" Ash rolled back clutching his nose in pain.

Right after him, Anabel's eyes were wide open registering what she had done. Her face turned into a horrified expression realizing what it was.  
"Oh gosh Ash I-I- I am sorry I didn't-" She ran up to him apologizing profusely. Muffles of pain was all that responded from him making Anabel feel even worse. Quickly thinking she helped him up. "This looks bad! Let's get you to Dr. Erik's." Her voice was high with panic

Pikachu and Espeon stood there traumatized on what had just occurred.

"Pi…"  
"Ephe…."

It took them several seconds to follow the two humans.

Finally Ash was able to speak… barely. "Imth thin youth broaken myth noth." He 'said' still clutching his nose, which you could see slight red drops coming from it.

Even with Anabel's great ability to understand the complex speech of Pokemon, what he said didn't make a lick of sense. But seeing the blood she had the look of utmost (comedic) worry.

"I have done a terrible thing." She muttered to herself, with sadden look and eyes dark. A purple gloomy aura surrounded her.

As per his nature, Ash tried to cheer her up but his muffled and pained attempts at words only sent the Salon Maiden depression spiraling downward. Pikachu intervened by shushing his trainer.

Seeing more red, Anabel panicked and grabbed his arm a hurried them along to Cobalt Port.

Once there.

"Can I go several days without you two coming in for some type of incident or injury?" Erik joked hoping to lighten up the mood. Anabel still sulked in the corner with the two starters and Ash was still grasping his nose in pain, both had not heard him.

"Right…" He sweat dropped before requesting Ash to move his hands so he could look at the damage done.

Ash winced before taking his hands off. From where she was sitting, Anabel couldn't get a good view on what was going on; Dr. Erik back was covering her line of vision.

"Well, this is defiantly broken. Looks like I need to readjust this back into place." The doctor said.

She blinked only barely registering the man's words before she saw him grab something on Ash and then twist.

Crack!  
History repeats.

"MMMMMMMMMPPPPPHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Ash was once again clutching his nose in dear life. Anabel blinked once again before looking at the dear trainer with utmost pity, crushing Espeon and Pikachu against her in anxiety.

Dr. Erik was completely unfazed bringing a frozen berry bag wrapped in a dishcloth to Ash. "This should help." He smiled back and Anabel and the Pokemon. "I'll leave you two be, make sure he keeps that ice pack on for at least five minutes." He said cheerily before exiting out.

It was an extremely awkward silence between the humans and the Pokémon. Well, mainly for Pikachu, Anabel, and Espeon. Ash was covering his nose in ice, him still being on immense pain to actually noticed.

"Youf hath ah meen lefth hook." She looked up realizing Ash actually spoke.

"Uh… she was shocked. "I… I what?" Anabel knew he shouldn't be speaking but that part of her was completely out of it.

Her surprise came when Ash smiled. "Meen left hook." He tried to say clearer. "I mean, dang. You knockedth my block off." He attempted to laugh, but this only served to hurt him more. "Mmmph…"

Anabel didn't get why he was so happy about this. "Ash I'm terribly sor-"

"Stopth." He raised his hand in emphasis. "Stopth saying thath. You did what came nathually to ya. I mean, when sleeping in the wild, iths noth like peopthle thry tooth walk you up normally."

"Pipika." Pikachu crossed his arms and nodded with Ash. Remember, Anabel was only by herself during her time as a lone trainer, unlike Ash who was always with someone, like Brock and Misty and expected to be woken or wake each other. As per instinct, punching an unknown voice was just plain survival instinct.

Still this didn't stop her from being exasperated at all of this. "Great start for a relaxing three days eh?" Anabel kinda joked; for some unknown reason she still felt tired. Maybe Ash was right, maybe the next days should be used to just relax.

He lightly laughed. "Hah- ow."

"How are you feeling?" Anabel asked trying to peer at his nose.

Ash winced away before she touched him, though apologetic seeing the worried look on her. "Well… Seems like the bleeding has stopped, but I think I'm gonna see if the doc could get some Syn- Syn-... some Synthesis on me."

"I think there's some Starf berry concentrate to help you out when we get back." She said smiling, trying to cheer him up.

The Pikachu trainer was already cheerful though; immediately hopped up giving her a thumbs up. "That will be great." And through that huge smile he gave her, made Anabel feel a lot better.

"Still it's rather unfortunate that I broke your nose."

Ash waved her off before petting Pikachu. "Nah don't worry about it. I'll heal in no time. There is something I want you to do though."

Anabel and Espeon tilted their heads to which Ash found cute. "What is that?"

"I want you two to find out what we can do for the time we have left with each other? I know you have a lot to do left in the Battle Tower before the time comes, but I'm hoping that maybe together we can get it done real fast to just hang out kay?"

That was a good idea. In fact, with the two of them making up for any bills that had come in during the time during the legendary trial, the job would definitely be handled. Its always helpful to have a few more hands working for her during a rush job.

She agreed, together they planned out that Anabel should go ahead to get things going as Ash went through his Synthesis Therapy to further the processes to heal his nose.

"By the way, I'm telling Jed about this over the Poke'Nav." Ash said when she was about to leave.

This was out of character. "Why?" She asked perturbed.

Ash grinned, though wincing again as the action moved his nose. "Because he'll think this is hilarious."

"Pikachu." The Electric Mouse Pokemon agreed.

A distance away, an Aura Philosopher laughed until he fell of his chair. Then it was the spinda's turn to laugh at his trainer.

* * *

As Anabel theorized, with Ash's acquired understanding of how the menial tasks of the Battle Frontier, together they cut down the work down to two hours. During that time, they discussed about how they should spend the next days together and of course the starter Pokémon had the right to add in what they wanted as well.

First thing first, take a nap in the sunlight.

And why not? It was a perfect day outside and they had spent all morning cramped inside the Battle Tower. Besides on some level Ash was still drained by the legendary trial so he still needed a bit more snooze time to keep himself up for the rest of the time. Didn't help that he needed to save energy to recover from the broken nose, as evident as the bandage surrounding his nose.

Though the trainer known as Ash was in for a surprise when as he tried to doze off Pokémon just kept coming up to join him. And it wasn't just his own, it was Anabel's Pokémon and a bunch of wild Pokémon as well, including that skittery Furret that came to Anabel on the day of the Pokémon conflict. So by the time he actually did fall asleep, around over fifty Pokémon were strewn out around the area all snoozing away with the trainer.

Around the time of three in the day was when Ash felt well rested though he couldn't get up. Pikachu and several small other Pokémon were laying on him. Turning his head, he found the same could be said for Anabel though she looked far more comfortable with him.

_'Strangely… despite of joining a workforce that revolves around trainers and other people, I spent a more a share around Pokémon than I have people. And yet, I don't feel deprived of any contact, for… I know that I have had plenty of contact with people in the past.'_ He looked over to the girl he liked. _'My gut tells me that Anabel has spent a lot of time with people though during this time and that she needed to spend more time with people. Funny how that works.'_

In the end, Ash was happy what he accomplished. He was still on his goal but there was no longer that dread, that desire to always win. Lose, was inevitable. Sure that meant he didn't always like it but this also meant he wasn't failing. His loses were someone's else successes and a lesson for him. So long as he gave it his best then there wasn't anything wrong with that.

Though deep in the pit of his stomach, the excitement to take on all the challengers for his new Battle Facility was starting to grow. He wanted to push them and himself to the limit with the battles. He wanted to get those trainers as passionate about battle was he was! Man he felt like-!

"Coorrrrrr…" The trainer felt his hat being lifted off his head, the corner of his eye he saw something red and cream above his head.

"Cor." He tilted his head at an angle. There a familiar mischievous and somewhat derby looking corphish was wearing his trainer's hat on his spike head.

"Corphish…" Ash smiled while dead panning a bit.

"Phi." The water type took one step back.

"C'mon." Ash saw he took another step back.

"Give it here." Another step back.

The Ruffian Pokemon, true to his name, took off with giggles leaving the dumbstruck trainer trapped beneath sleeping Pokémon without his hat.

"That does it." He said to himself before skillfully maneuvering out of living pile on him before chasing after the one who stole his hat.

"Alright you little-" It was just like at the time from when he first met the Hoenn Water type Chasing him around the beach. Only this time they were dodging between Pokémon. And slowly they have been waking up as the chase went on. Ash had to stop a few times to make sure his nose bandage didn't come off.

Ash was almost right on top of Corphish, ready to snatch back his hat, when the Ruffian took the Battle Frontier Cap and tossed it over to another Pokémon.

"Swellow!" The flying type snatched the hat in mid air going the opposite direction. Ash grounded his heels in the grass trying to follow where the Swallow Pokémon sped off to.

"Oh c'mon!" Ash complained not caring now if he woke anyone else up. He was too caught up in his current predicament of wondering how he was gonna get that rambunctious swellow. A strategy came to Ash head so he stopped looking like he gave up.

The flying Pokémon was hovering overhead, curious as why his normally persistent trainer was simply standing there. Well he couldn't keep up here forever?

Trying to keep out of his trainer's reach and sight to continue the game perched down on the Sleeping Torterra's tree's branches.

This was directly in a blind spot for the human and done it so quietly it would be impossible for Ash to detect him.

Yet the bird Pokémon had forgotten that his trainer had learned Aura sight, which was not required to have eyes. As a result, Ash knew exactly where Swellow was.

With surprising speed he bolted towards his flying/normal type, intending to use the shell of Torterra to gain leverage.

"Gotcha!" Ash cried out triumphantly in the air.

"SWEL?!" Looked like Ash would get his hat back after all.

Nope.

"Kirlia!"

"Kirlia!"

A flash of green and blue nabbed the hat right before Ash tackled Swellow.

The two tumbled lightly on the ground, to no avail, seeing that two Emotion Pokémon were tossing the trainer's hat to each other.

Ash cast the flying type a deadpanned look and who retaliated the same before the trainer stove off to catch the two Kirlia.

_'Can't believe Anabel's own Pokémon were ganging up on me'_ He though while casting said Salon Maiden a quick look. She was still sleeping still oblivious to the silliness around.

_'I'm the one who needs rest, yet I'm the one running like an idiot while she naps away.'_ There was envy in his thoughts, but then again, he was having fun chasing pokemon around like this. But seriously! Did they have to steal his hat? His mom made that.

"Kir Kir!" The boy shiny Kirlia had noticed the human had slowed down and started to spank his rump as an insult to the human. That defiantly got the trainer faster, to the point he was charging at the two psychic types like a train.

The two Kirlia were ecstatic with tears in their eyes.

"Lia lia lia lia!"

And like always, when Ash was about to get close to the Pokemon-

"Ash why are you chasing my Pokémon?" A groggy female voice asked.

This tripped Ash up, veritably, over a rock that sent the teen rolling on the ground once more, through not damaging him in any such way. The force sent out a small item from his jacket. It was a recent addition, a small key chain that he attached in a secret pocket of his vest. This went flying out. At the end of this key chain was a Poke'ball.

One that had a topaz gold gem like surface.

One that opened when it stopped rolling around on the ground.

Emerging from it was a large serpentine form that turned into a more bulking and broader form when the light touched the ground.

"IIIEERAAAAAAA!." Giratina gave out a mighty cry that rattled the bones of all the Pokémon around them.

Ash looked up. _'Oh crap!'_

Giratina was not a very outgoing Pokemon. Being introduced into a bright new place was uncomfortable for the Renegade Pokémon and thus true to its nature, reacted violently.

It glared at the strange Pokémon around it, only stopping when he heard its… its friend's words.

"Giratina, Giratina. Calm.. calm down." Ash calmly walked hands out trying to sooth the Legendary Pokémon.

"Iirrraaaa…" Luckily the Ghost Legendary saw the human was not in danger. It assessed that because the human was not at danger than the Pokémon surrounding were not a threat.

Though this was it had come to conclude, this didn't stop from all the other creatures being terrified of the immense legendary.

Even Ash's Pokémon, those who had not fought it, and to some extent Anabel's younger Pokémon were scared. This did help make Giratina feel like it was welcome.

The two trainer's and Pikachu sensed this and rushed to take action.

"Woah now everyone. This is Giratina. He's… he's a legendary but don't let that worry kay?" Ash stood in front of the dark Legendary putting a careful hand to show that the human wasn't afraid of Giratina. But that also meant he wasn't trying to show that he didn't respect it.

Pikachu was bold enough to jump on the legendary's plat's of gold and began to speak to the Pokémon around him in their our native speech in car ether didn't understand human too well.

Anabel worked her position as an empathetic link to Pokémon to calm them down.

"Ash is right. You've all have seen other legendaries come and go here." She said talking about Entei and Raikou who have come across the wild Pokémon here many a time.

She herself went up to the Renegade Pokémon, bowing in respect. "Though I admit, I would have never thought I would see an actual Giratina."

Ash and Pikachu figeted a bit before introducing the legendary to her.

"Uh Yeah! Giratina this is Anabel. She… She is kinda my teacher who… well who has the same ideals with me." He tried to get his voice firm yet despite of him feeling a bit nervous. He wasn't sure how Giratina would react to another human that hadn't helped him.

The legendary looked around them wearily, judging the situation before leaning down to stare straight into Ash's eye.

The trainer stared back, trying to show Giratina that he was still who he was, the trainer that was his friend.

The human nodded at the Pokémon before turning to Anabel. "Can you escort the rest of the Pokémon here? I think I need to talk to Giratina alone."

She nodded. Always having it been easy to use her Ability to round up large amounts of Pokémon, it took her no problem to beckoned the rest of the wild Pokémon back in their homes.

"Pika pika chu. Kachu pi." Pikachu began to talk to the Renegade Pokémon. Saying how sometimes Poke'Ball's, the device that summoned him activate the release, either through the trainer's call, by the Pokémon forcing itself out for who knows what reason, and incase the Poke'ball become overly sensitive and thinks that the trainer or Pokemon is summoning it. Nothing major.

It looked like Giratina was trying to understand what Pikachu was saying but failing. It had been isolated in an unchanging Reverse World of millennial, modern things like this would obviously confuse something ancient like this.

Ash sighed. "This is gonna take some time." Ash was beginning to understand that training a legendary would be different from a normal Pokémon, or at least in Giratina's case. Most Pokémon were around some what knowledgeable about humans and the current age they live in but…

Not only that but a Legendary had to be treated with a different type of respect. They were already vastly powerful and independent pokemon, it would be a challenge for a regular trainer… no… a new Frontier Brain, to work out a proper training regiment.

"Alright alright." He looked up directly to Giratina. "So… what do you want to do?" He decided to ease the legendary into this new stage in life by letting it choose what it wanted to do.

"Irra?" Giratina was not used to such friendliness, as such the human always had the tendency to through it off.

What it wanted to do? It could always go back go back to the Reverse World… but, for some reason it felt like that wouldn't solve what the human was looking for.

Pikachu spoke up basically saying: Y'know do you want to try training with Ash or maybe be acquainted with his Pokémon, his other friends?

You could tell the immense ghost Pokémon was uncomfortable, as it shifted its six legs a little bit. Who knew, the fearsome violent Pokémon of legend was a bit shy.

"Ummmmm?" Ash kinda mimicked its actions. He snapped his fingers finding a good idea. "Ah, how about I try to get you some poffins?" Ash said thinking of how food was always a great way to make friends.

Pikachu got down from Giratina to talk to his trainer. "Pikachu?"

"I'm sure Anabel would have some utensils from her kitchen we could use. C'mon Dawn taught us a lot, and I'm sure I got some old recipes from Brock that are still left in my pack."

Pikachu's ear tilted back a bit remembering Ash's first attempts at making them. "Pi…ka…"

* * *

It was a bit weird walking with a legendary, but after taken walks with Anabel, Entei and Raikou for a few days so it wasn't that strange but… Giratina was a different story from the Roaming Beasts.

He knocked awkwardly, on the door; a right reason too, as Anabel opened the door and her eyes widen slightly seeing Giratina behind Ash and Pikachu.

"Umm…. ah…." Few times that Anabel as speechless, this was one of them.

Ash and Pikachu grinned sheepishly. "Hey ah… do you think we could bring out the outside stove and a poffin dish?"

Anabel didn't really know what was going on, compliment to just let things go with the flow she obliged to get out the requested items as Ash kept company with the legendary.

"So… you want to make poffins for Giratina? Is that right?" She asked once everything is out.

"Yep." Ash said looking at the recipe that Brock lent him. He hoped that Giratina would like the flavor.

In the back of his mind, Ash thought how surreal this all was; he was making Poffins for a ghost and dragon Legendary of the Sinnoh creation trio who he had fought the mighty all powerful Arceus with… This… was probably not the strangest thing he had done… and probably won't be the last.

He looked up to Giratina. "You can settle down, it will take a few minutes."

"Can I help?" Anabel offered holding another poffin cooking jar.

"Sure… I might mess up, I'm not the best here at Poffins." Ash grinned sheepishly.

Anabel laughed a bit.

"Don't worry, neither am I." This took Ash by surprise but smiled, hey you couldn't be good at everything. Same applies to the girl he thought highly of.

Eh, they could laugh at themselves if they both burned their poffins and force each other to eat them for fun.

But, surprisingly with each other managing to keep tab on each other poffin jars baking dough they managed to go along so far. It was kinda funny to see Giratina quirking its head in curiosity too see what was up. But its attention was diverted when Ash's and Anabel's other Pokémon were slowly approaching, following their noses to the smell of the Poffins.

They were apprehensive to approach with the intimidating legendary, but seeing Larvitar skip towards Ash before waving to said legendary.

Soon with careful dedication, Ash was able to come out with a decent amount of Poffins that looked decent and smelled pretty good as well, in fact they looked a bit better than Anabel's. But only a little bit. They stilled smelled pretty good.

They were mainly bitter flavored Poffins and it looked liked he would have to make more as the other pokemon were filing in.

It was a suspicion that the bitter flavor would be in Giratina's flavor.

So taking one from the plat he offered it calmly to the legendary.

It kept quirking its head towards the strange treat. Strange.

Slowly it opened its maw, before taking the whole thing gently from the trainer's hand.

It took five seconds before it flew back its head in delight, letting out a cry tasting the flavor.

It startled everyone, but Ash and Anabel couldn't help but smile.

"I think it like them." Anabel said to Ash grinning, he grinned back; you didn't need to be a Pokémon translator to understand this.

Soon enough, they were making Poffins for other Pokémon and Giratina was happy.

It was happy.

Such an emotion was rare in its going through the motions life. This was a different type of happiness that it got from it was freed from Zero. It was a simple happiness, and for once… it could enjoy itself. The human, the boy in the red hat, and the pikachu, made it easy.

They spent the rest of the day like this, until by mid evening all the Pokémon had poffins, it was time to bid Giratina goodbye as it was called back by the poke'ball which sent it to the Reverse World.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the mess and giving the rest of the poffins to the wild pokemon and to some people in town for their own pokemon.

The rest of the day was spent lazily relaxing.

_The next day…_

Ash and Anabel with Pikachu and Espeon were watching a match of the Pokemon Baccer tourney, when a knock was emitting from the door.  
Curious.  
There was no one from the Battle Frontier coming their way yet. So who could it be? The knock came again, this time causing the trainers to look at each other in wondering who should answer. As it was Anabel's house, she went ahead to get it, Ash following slightly peaking out of the doorway from the living room, with Pikachu and Espeon on him.

Opening the door revealed a small boy holding a piece of paper in his hand.

He smiled brightly seeing it was the Salon Maiden and held up the paper to her.

"Here you go! This is for you!"

Anabel blinked but smiled taking to see what it is. She didn't even get a chance to look at it when the boy ran off.

"What is it?" Ash asked when she sat down on the wicker chair in the living room. He leaned his elbow on it, trying to view the letter from above. Pikachu took his place on his trainer's shoulder while Espeon leapt on her trainer's lap.

"Oh." Anabel eyes widen recognizing what it was. "This is an ad for helpers of the Kids camp for this summer." She smiled. "Looks like they want me to be a counselor again this year for the kids."

"Pikachu Ka-pika."

"Oh wow that's cool." Ash said looking closely at the request form. "So when does it start?"

He noticed Anabel wince. "Well… it looked like its about to start in an hour." She was torn, it lasted exactly two days, and as much she wanted to help the kids out as they camped, she wanted to spend the days with Ash before he left.

Ash however smiled this not crossing his mind. "That's awesome, lets grab some Pokemon and help those kids out!" He hoisted her up by her shoulder, forcing Espeon to hop back on the ground.

"Ephe!" The Sun Pokemon was disgruntled by the sudden disruption.

Anabel was once again caught up in Ash's enthusiasm. Soon in five minutes he came bounding with her in tow outside off to Cobalt Port to become a councilor for the next two days for the kids.

And it was exactly the type of relaxation Ash wanted. The kids and the other counselors were more than happy to get Anabel with them and the extra help Ash offered. Ash himself getting a bit of fame as fact was out that he was under Anabel's charge to become another Frontier Brain. Of course, this town would always have the Salon Maiden their favorite Frontier Brain.

But the two teens were in charge of their own team of kids as they carried supplies and walked towards more of the Johto/Kanto border to be more within the wilderness. There they would set up camp for the kids and teaching them crafts, and get along with the wild Pokémon better. And having Anabel and Ash, they could show off how trainers would get along with wild Pokémon and the difference between a battle trained Pokémon and a wild Pokémon.

The first activity!

Drawing the wild Pokémon.

It was a familiar activity Ash remembered from the Pokémon Summer Camp in Sinnoh, were they had to research the water type Pokémon. However they were allowed to choose any within the vicinity, so long as the kids were within vicinity of the leader's sight.

Ash decided to draw a Nidorino that was munching on some grass, Anabel however was far off drawing Hoothoot. He even landed Pikachu a pencil and paper to see what his starter could bring up. He was curious to see a pokemon could draw.

Also the drawing took a bit longer as he had to kept checking on the kids to make sure they are alright.

It lunch time when it was time to finish, and he had to go check up to see how the kids do. And for kids, they were not bad. Pretty awesome as his was just alright as well.

So escorting them to lunch, Ash noticed that Anabel had gone back to her drawing spot looking intently at her drawing.

He decided to sidled up to her to check out what she had done.

It was…

Ah…

The hoothoot was basically a wobbly circle with equally wobbly circles for eyes an oversized triangle beak and straight spikes sticking out of the head and bottom that Ash believed were suppose to be the crest and foot.

How to put this nicely…

"It stinks." Anabel said the words for him. Her eyes shadow in her shame.

Ash immediately sweat dropped but tried to console her. "Oh no no! It's fine! It's-"

"Don't patronize me Ash."

"Yes Ma'am." She basically told him to shut up.

"Can I see yours?" Anabel asked weakly. Ash frowned but agreed showing her the picture of the Nidorino.

He was glad to see her smile. "That's pretty good."

"Pikaaa pikaaa!" Pikachu walked up proudly showing off his childish drawing of, to the trainers' surprise, Ash himself. It was a cute child like drawing, though sadly, it was better than Anabel's.

"Hey Pikachu. That's really good." Anabel said.

"Ephe epee!" Apparently the Sun Pokemon also had drawn too, which is was an accurate drawing of Anabel….

It was better than all of theirs!

Ash glared. "Show off."

Eventually they continued on with the activities with the kids, ranging from hiking around the outer woods to crafting wicker bags to hold berries. It was a fun day spent.

* * *

_The next day…_

"Aw! When are we going to get there?" Dawn complained as they trudged on. It had been almost a week for them trying to get to Pallet town. If it wasn't for Zoey who kept cheering them on, then they would have hardly got back up. Of course it looks like Brock and Misty were doing alright. They having probably traveled more than Dawn, Zoey, May, Max and Barry combined.

Everyone, besides the two, looked down as well. They too had been tired of the walk. Even Zoey had lost a bit of her fire.

But soon enough…

"Oh Look!" Barry and Max pointed out a the same time before glaring at each other.

Everyone was on their toes looking at what was noted by the two. And in a clearing downhill was Pallet Town! Finally they had reach their destination. Ash Ketchum was in for a surprise.

"Let's go!" Misty yelled charging! Her grudge against the pikachu trainer was back and motivated her to sprint on ahead.

Everyone was soon running to the small town with renewed enthusiasm.

They ignored the stares the local residents who wondered why there were a bunch of kids, one of them carrying a strange penguin Pokémon, were running across town.

However they slid to a stop seeing something large at the edge of town that looked out of place for the small community.

"Is that normal?" Barry asking the question that was on everyone minds. "Didn't expect Ash's hometown to have something like that."

"It doesn't" Brock said just as bewildered as the rest of them. Even Misty who was intent at charging at Ash's house was intrigued by this new strange big detail in the town.

So like any normal kids would do, the indulged their curiosity and went over to the other side of town, temporary forgetting their original goal.

Walking around the main town path they began to notice living trailers, and some heavy contraction supplies. It got even thicker as they got closer and closer to the structure, which was beginning to look like a castle.

It was a castle!

A huge beautiful castle that was similar to Cameran Palace though smaller and had a few different colors, and more flying buttresses. It also had a very large symbol that looked familiar to May, Max and Brock but they couldn't seem to put their finger on where they had seen it before.

It looked complete; all the workers around here were looking like they were adding finishing touches, cleaning up and making sure everything was in place.

"Piplup…"

"Yeah.. wonder what's going on?" Soon stars started to sparkle in her eyes. "Maybe it is a new Conference Hall for coordinators?"

Everyone thought about. Considering the grandeur of the castle, this could be it… but in a small place like Pallet Town… unlikely.

A construction worker woman followed by a rydon came up to them. "Fraid not little lady. This here is for battles only. Though I don't suppose ya heard of the Battle Frontier?"

"The Battle Frontier?" Everyone exclaimed.

"Ha! My dad is in the Sinnoh Battle Frontier!" Barry bragged.

The lady quirked her head. "Okay then… well this is for the original branch here in Kanto."

Brock pounded his fist in his hand. "That's right. I remember Ash going through that last year. But what this have to relate to them for?"

"Well apparently some hotshot trainer from here or nearby this town has apparently been made into the next Frontier Brain. This her facility was commissioned a few months ago, and now we're just done."

This was startling news to everybody. Someone was going to become a Frontier Brain in Ash's own town.

"I hope Ash is alright with this new development." Brock said to the others.

"I don't understand?" Zoey said not getting the big deal with the Battle Frontier.

Max explained their travels when Ash attempted the Frontier Brain. It seemed like he really enjoyed battling the Kanto branch and was really good at it. Though the Frontier Brain's themselves were no joke, each coming up with quirks and strategies that pushed Ash to the limit and made everyone else feeling inadequate in their own battle skills.

"Scott their boss even offered Ash a position in the Battle Frontier which Ash denied of course." May finished.

Everyone else looked a bit shocked. Especially our Sinnoh residents. Ash was really that good?

Now mind you they didn't think of this in a negative concept, it was simply just how they perceived Ash. Was Palmer really more powerful than the rest of the Kanto Frontier Brains or was Ash not even trying.

Misty was satisfied seeing what they saw and her next objective was well...

Meanwhile at a house not to far away. Mr. Mime was merely watering the flowers on this calm day.

"AAASSHHHH KEETCCHHUUMM!" A voice roared from over the hill.

"Mr. Mime!" The psychic types knees began to shake hearing it. It sounded like a below from a Onix! And the cloud of dust from the hill made it worry that it was indeed it was!

"m-m-Mime!" He threw up the water can and started to run back and fourth in panic before remembering he had shelter and took refuge in the Ketchum house, slamming the door behind him.

Delia who was sitting in the rocking chair, heard the slam and heard the Barrier Pokemon panic in the halls.

"Mime mime mine mime!"

"What's wrong Mimey?" The sweet lady of the house hold asked with concern in her voice. She got up to see what was wrong; to which Mr. Mime was shaking and pointing at the door fearing what ever was outside.

Delia only raised an eyebrow.

_Outside…_

Misty slammed her heels against the ground to veer her in front of the house, everyone else was right behind.

"Finally!" Misty began to knock on the door harshly. "Alright you better open up Ketchu-" The door opened reveling a Ketchum… Delia Ketchum. "..ummmmmm?"

Needless to say this took her by surprise.

Delia however was ecstatic. "Oh Misty! It's been so long!" She then noticed everyone behind her. "And I see some familiar faces! How are you doing Brock, May, Max, and Dawn is it…? And… who are these two?" Delia asked curiously not really recognizing from any of Ash's battles on the TV.

"Hi there!" Zoey said politely. " You are Ash's mom right? I'm Zoey and I'm a coordinator like Dawn and May."

Barry slammed his foot down posing in victory. "And I'm Barry! Son of the legendary Palmer! I am Ash's Arch Rival!"

Everyone except Delia sweat dropped at the boast.

"Oh that's nice." She said sweetly. Ash's mom was too sweet for her own good.

Or maybe she was just humoring the boy. Who knew?

"Um… Mrs. Ketchum?" Max came up and tugged at her shirt. "Could we see Ash please? It's been awhile since we've all seen him and we has contacted any of us."

At this Delia remembered why her son hadn't talked to any of his friends for the first two weeks after the Sinnoh League. His depression lead him to believe that he had shamed himself as a trainer and thus couldn't face his friends in such a state… but as the other two months…

A big smile broke out. "Ash would love to see you guys but I'm afraid you'll have to wait."

"WHAT?! WHY?!" They all cried out shocked. Did this mean that Ash really went on a journey without them?

"Does that mean Ash went off to a new region without telling us?" Dawn cried out worriedly.

Delia was quick to calm them down. "Of course not. My son may be a bit dense but he's not that inconsiderate." A huge smile. "In fact his training will be done by tomorrow, so I'm sure he'll be delighted to see you all here for his big ceremony."

"His training?" Barry asked tilted the confused.

"His ceremony?" May asked mimicking the same action. Soon enough everyone was tilting their head in confusion.

Delia almost deadpanned to how dense these kids were as well. They seriously couldn't put two and two together?

"Well… I'm sure you kids have all seen that new nice looking building at our edge of town." She pointed to the castle that the kids had visited only a few minutes prior.

"Yeah… We heard a new Frontier Brain is coming." Brock said.

"I guess Ash would be really down seeing someone over powerful trainer is coming into his town. Is that why he's training to try to beat this guy?" Dawn asked.

Though smiling, this time Delia really did deadpanned. "Um… no actually. Ash is the new Frontier Brain."

The response was unexpected, they were all completely silent.

In fact it seemed like they were about to have their brains short-circuit. Fearing the worse Delia was quick to explain. "Ash is still on his journey to become a Pokemon Master but after his defeat by that darkrai trainer, my son decided to try to a new approach to get stronger. So he decided to take up Scott's offer of becoming a Frontier Brain. Scott said yes and so far Ash had been training with a Frontier Brain to improve his skill for the past two months and he should be coming early tomorrow in fact now that he's passed his test."

It was then they began asking questions.

"Is he seriously considering to settle down?!"

"Why would Scott offer him a position?!"

"How is he going to mange being a Frontier Brain and the leagues?"

"Does he even know what he's getting into?"

"What does being a battle frontier entail?"

"Aw man! Ash is so cool."

Delia smiled inwardly. At least Max was impressed.

"Now now everyone." Delia clapped her hands and offered everyone in. "How about we talk this over some juice okay?"

Delia fully explained how the Battle Frontier Brain will tie in with Ash's regions journeys, seeing how the Battle Frontier only last a few months compared to most leagues that last around eight months. Due to the fact that the Battle Frontier was far more flexible in schedule and less dependent on a mass organization.

So at a certain time of year, Ash would become a Frontier Brain and for the rest of the year would be as a trainer. It was really simple as that.

Brock still looked conceded. As much as Ash was his friend, he didn't believe that Ash would have the ability to handle such big thing. "Mrs. Ketchum, does Ash even know how to run a Battle Faculty. I used to be a gym leader and its not as easy as simply battling someone whenever they come."

Misty nodded alongside him thinking along those same terms.

They were shocked that Delia just smiled. "Oh don't you worry about him. My little boy is being trained personally by a Frontier Brain. I have no worries that he isn't in good hands."

This piqued May's interest. "So who is Ash's teacher?"

Delia smiled kindly, though it hid a mischievous side knowing that just _who_ was teaching Ash. "That's classified information." She said with the sweetest voice.

Everyone stumbled over those words.

"Why not?!"

Delia smiled. "You must know that being a Frontier Brain really is a job, and you must know its a private organization so I just can't chatting their secrets willy nilly now can I?"

The teens and kids head their heads down in respect. They had forgotten this was indeed a job and it had its own company's secrets.

But now that the question has been asked, the answer to who was Ash's teacher was picking at their insides. Especially for the female genders of this party.

A knock came from the door and Mr. Mime was happy to answer it.

A familiar voice for some, strange for some others came forth. "Hey Mr. Mime good to see you. Do you know where Mrs. Ketchum is, I want to update her the latest news on the…" Tracy trailed off seeing the crowd.

He gulped when his eyes blinked at Misty though he quickly turned it to Delia.

"t-t-t-that… that the Battle Castle is completely done… and… and the contraction workers would like you to see the insides to see if it fits yours and Ash's approval…"

He winced.

He had the right to wince.

'BANG!'

Tracy ended up laying on the ground in a moaning mess. A welt was over his head and Misty was standing over him wielding her patented Misty Hammer.

"Nice to see… you too… Misty… Nice… new… look." He said barely conscious.

Misty merely huffed, (**A/N: Remember folks both her and Brock are in their HeartGold and SoulSilver outfits)**.

"So you _knew_ that Ash was here for two weeks and didn't even bother to contact m-… us."

Inwardly Tracy groaned. _'I knew this would happen…. one day. Surprised it lasted this long…"_

It was awkward from then on out. Once Tracy was able to regain the ability to speak in coherent sentences.

"So Tracy how long have you been in on this project?" Zoey said smiling worriedly careful with her words

Tracy rubbed the spot were the hammer welt was. "Um… ah… ever since Ash went off with his teacher. Scott personally came to Professor Oak to get things settled and announced to Pallet Town that we will be having a Frontier Brain of our own." He smiled remembering how the whole community erupted in cheers to hear such a big thing happening. He described how the town was told where the Battle Castle, Ash's own Battle Facility, was going to be and how they could help with it.

Soon workers arrived and began construction. However, besides for Mrs. Ketchum, no one has heard nor seen hide or hair of Ash.

He's has been totally immersed within whatever training this it was.

"In fact, I haven't seen any of his Pokemon in Professor Oaks fields."

This was extremely unusual for any trainer to suddenly have all their Pokemon disappear like this.

Delia cared to explain. "Apparently Ash's teacher asked Professor Oak to send over all his Pokémon so he could train the equally."

Barry stood up in excitement. "SO BASICALLY!" He concluded. "That Ash is going through super secret training in order to become someone like that Brandon dude Paul talks about who defeated him as part of the Battle Frontier! SO! How can I get in?!"He asked Delia Ketchum.

He could feel the unimpressed looks from the back of his head.

"Barry…" May started off. "Ash had to challenge all seven of the Frontier Brains, after being personally recruited by Scott in order to get that position."

Once again Barry deflated at this, leaving the poor trainer back on his bum.

"Pip lup…" The blond haired human felt the beady eyes of the proud Pokémon drilling in his skull.

Delia thought for a moment as this was going on. "I would hate for you to all come here for nothing." You could practically see the lightbulb over her head. "Oh I know. Since Ash will be arriving tomorrow, why do you all stay the night and attend his ceremony that happens a few days after? It will be a wonderful experience I just know it."

This brought smiled to the traveling group's faces. That would be a good idea, And for many, sans Barry, how many people got to see the coronation of new Frontier Brain? Especially if it was your best friend.

It was agreed then. They would stay the night and meet Ash tomorrow and stay for the rest of the time to see the trainer become a Frontier Brain.

That should be easy enough.

And as we all know it never is.

End of Chapter 26

* * *

**YES I DID MAKE TWITCH PLAYS POKEMON REFERENCES!  
****AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!**

Please review and feel free to ask questions.


	27. A Bit of Change Never Hurt Anyone

**This is a truly awesome day.**

**When I first made this story, it was for my own personal need to improve creative writing skills. And to simply get an idea out and show respect for the Mysterious Mister P.**

**Never did I suspect people to read this story.**  
**Never did I suspect so many people to read this story.**  
**Never did I suspect to get my own fan base and make people believe in the pokemon fandom once again.**  
**Never did I suspect that I would reignite others to continue on writing.**  
**Never did I suspect that I would make such great friends with the readers.**  
**And never did I suspect that I would get 500 reviews.**  
**EVER!**

**So thank you.  
Thank you to all who have stuck with me and continued on with me.  
This story has grown up with me and I hope it has done the same for you guys.**

**I am honored to be an author for you guys.  
I am honored to be True-InTha-Blue.**

**Also I am sorry that this is only a mediocre chapter for the 500 review celebration.**

**The 500 came out just when I was at the end of this story.  
Oh well.**

**Hey I also made a Twitter account to let you guys know what I am up to and how the chapters are going.**

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**** BlueSpinda**

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**Once again ENJOY THE STORY!**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 27

A Bit of Change Never Hurt Anyone

(Two Months and Twenty Five days since the Initiation)

It was the night on the same day that Ash's friend arrived in Pallet Town. However it was back in Tohjo Falls near the Battle Tower is where the setting was here.  
It had been several hours since Ash and Anabel got back from the the camping with the kids of Cobalt Falls. The rest of the day together they mostly just hanged out with their Pokemon happily relaxing. However it had been two hours since Anabel had left to go check on something, detail which were not divulged to Ash, and had not been back.

Pikachu was at his shoulder where he normally was. He was still isolated from any trainers and was sitting nearby the shore of Gyarados' lake. He was enjoying the sunset, a habit that he had developed with his time with Anabel. To them it was equivalent to a normal's couple cuddling on a couch. But for them, there was no cuddling, holding hands was good enough for both of them. Their faces always red was clear indicator of that.

But there was no Anabel there, still… it was still something Ash enjoyed and it brought nice memories. Also he still wanted to do it while it still lasted, this was his last day here as her apprentice after all.

Feeling the soft cheek brush against his face, Ash turned slightly and began to rub Pikachu's cheeks with his own. He could feel the tingle of electricity conduct through the electric type's to his own but it didn't hurt, in fact made Ash feel more like a pokemon to handle it.  
Ever since the immense training all his Pokemon had been doing, it felt like they had been more in tune with their respective types and elements so their reigning in their powers was a bit more difficult as example the slight constant discharge of Pikachu's cheeks. Either Ash had to be more careful who touched them or Pikachu would eventually stop emitting it on a regular basis.

"Chaaaaaa!" It seemed that the Electric Mouse Pokemon enjoyed the cheek rubbing. It was how other Pikachu's communicated; those lightning bolt birthmarks made it funnier too.

However they noticed something odd in the glow of the golden sun and the orange hued water. Something red and black was there…. No.  
It was staring!  
It was a pair of eyes!

But instead of freaking out like most people, Ash smiled. He knew those eyes. It was from his Legendary Best friend: Giratina.

Ash looked at Pikachu real quick before recalling the memories of the Legendary using reflecting surfaces to enter or spy on the real world when Shaymin was with them. So this must be that power.

"Could be handy." Ash said to himself. He didn't think he would allow to use it in a regular battle… then again… if he was using Giratina to battle then it wouldn't be for a regular match.

But he and Pikachu did wave to the legendary peering from the diminution through the water. It seemed whatever the Renegade Pokemon was looking for was satisfied and the image faded out.

Real nifty.  
Still didn't answer the question that had been on his mind.  
Where was Anabel?

He was curious. Ash and Anabel didn't need to be with each other constantly. That was just stupid. People needed to do own things at times.

The sun was almost down and he wasn't getting anything done just by sitting there, so the trainer and the Pikachu headed forth to the house not knowing what else to do. Of course they would be heading to it if it wasn't for a the two small kirlia waving them closer.

They were Anabel's kirlia, the shiny male and the normal female. Ash wondered what they were up too. He hadn't forgotten when they helped with stealing his hat with other pokemon. He looked at Pikachu real quick before adjusting his hat more firmly.

"Kirlia!"  
"Kirlia!"

The two psychic type pokemon danced around his legs. They tugged at the pant legs slightly urging him to follow towards the west. Having nothing else to do, Ash decided to humor them by following them, though slower at pace. This was fine; Kirila loved to dance for no reason, the human merely walking gave them an excuse to do more.

While walking Ash fingered an item in his pocket he had got from Sinnoh. No it wasn't something as stupid as a ring, it was something practical.

Since this was the last day he might as well give it.

The human and the pikachu began to notice that they were trailing towards Cobalt Port. The two smiled knowingly at each other. Okay something was up. A surprise would definitely be waiting for them.

The Kirlia had disappeared within the glow of the candle lit houses however Ash knew that he had to go directly to Von's Bakery; it was the only place dark.

The door was slightly unhinged, and as tempted as he was to use Aura Sight for a quick peak Ash knew that the surprise would be better.

As the lights lit on and the familiar faces of the Battle Tower, a few people from the community, such as the workers from the port, and several wild pokemon cheered at him as he entered. In the center was a cake that had his name and a image of a pikachu in frosting. Words were written over it; 'Thank you and Good Luck.'

Anabel and Espeon were there looking sheepish. She explained it was a surprise party that she and the other people that Ash had become friends with to congratulate him on the last day here.

They had come a far along. From a kid who was shy, naive and who had lost his way towards the dream. And two months later, cocooned within training, trail and some emotional circumstances it had been a transformation. Now you could say he was a bit smarter, stronger and developed somewhat of a wild side. But he knew who he was. Or at least he knew a little bit more. Looking at the yellow mouse, Ash concluded the same could be said for his best buddy Pikachu.  
In fact for everyone of his Pokemon.

It was a start to something else. Something new but something comfortable. Stabilization with a journey.

Together with the new friends he made, not through journey or strange events, but simply through the passing of everyday interaction. They were friends through a friend, through Anabel.

And really the celebration was not big, but it had meaning. It was a simple little thing, like a friend having a birthday. It was another year and another year to go on. They talked to each other and together they ate delicious cake, courtesy of the local baker himself. They knew that Ash would be back to visit and so it wasn't really a farewell more like a… 'see ya later' party.

But the evening had ended and it was dark and the last of the candles of Cobalt Port and been snuffed out. The stars however were still twinkling on the two humans and two Pokemon walking home. For once, Pikachu and Espeon trailed just behind the trainers on the path.

The pokemon talked but the humans were quiet. Anabel and Ash were both reminiscing that this would be the last time… for a while at least… they would be walking down this path. It held memories for them, Ash's first time traveling was at his lowest, then traveling along to a celebration to where Pokemon dressed as humans and humans dressed as Pokemon and then many times after that. Each carrying laughter, happiness, sadness and a whole lot of other things.

Though there was one thing that happened this path that hadn't happened before. They were holding hands. And it was simple as that. Once again their relationship was something of the simplest concepts, enjoyment from the simple contact and knowing when they are with each other.

Together they walked in silence enjoying the company. No words were spoken, they didn't need them. Now how funny it was that compared to how underdeveloped some might consider this relationship to be, that it held more maturity then most couples at their young age. Given that they were almost there, Ash decided to this was the right time.

"Hey Anabel?" He said casually, making them stop.

The Salon Maiden tilted her head showing that she was listening.

He disentangled their hands to fish the object from his pocket, revealing the beautiful luminescent stone to her.

It was a Dawn Stone from the Sinnoh region, an evolution stone for Froslass and Gallade.

He held it out for her to take, and smiled when she slowly reached for it. The Salon maiden felt the smooth stone in her palm, shining almost like a gem, emitting a light in the darkness.

Her smile said it all; to Ash, it seemed like she been wanting this for a while. Taking out two Poke'Balls Anabel called forth the Kirlia, showing the shiny male what was in her hand.  
The shiny let out a small kir as his eyes widened. He turned to his female counter part who nodded. Then with glee he reached for the Dawn Stone.

Enveloped in the glow of evolution, Ash and Pikachu were surprised when the same thing happened to the female kirlia. The double evolution made their eyes hurt from the light, trying to squint not to miss anything.  
It faded revealing the Blade Pokemon and the Embrace Pokemon holding hands together. Anabel and Espeon started to chuckle causing Ash and Pikachu to be confused. It dawned on them that their must've been something about Gallade and Gardevoir that the two girls must've got.

They however were still clueless.

Oh well, they were just glad that they were happy.

Now Anabel had two powerful Psychic type Pokemon at her disposal, and after helping them so much, Ash and Pikachu felt that they should help out the Salon Maiden and her team as well.

Soon they reached the house, and like their routine followed bid each other goodnight. They didn't feel like they should make anything they had extra special, because what they had was already special. It was basic but they were happy for it.

But during the night, Ash was a bit too excited to settle down right away. He was so hyped to finally get to see his own Battle Facility! And then the official ceremony that came a few days after. Idly he wondered if he could invite all his friends. But he wondered who would actually be there.  
Brock, if he was still in his hometown, could come over. And maybe even Misty. He knew Tracy would be there for him. Max and May probably couldn't make it. Or Dawn for that matter.

Huh… Ash just then realized how many girls he had traveled with over the years. Wow, he must be a lucky guy really to have the ability to make friends so easily especially with the opposite gender… girls…. who he hanged out with a lot… who sometimes… gave him looks… that kinda looked like at times that Anabel gave him when they held hands… girls… who had the same look of…

…

like...

OH CRAP!

* * *

The morning had come and Ash had woke up early to prepare breakfast since this is his last time.  
Besides the five Poke'balls on his belt, the secret topaz Poke'Ball in his jacket and Pikachu on the counter, the rest of his mass team have all been sent back to Professor Oak's place awaiting his arrival by the afternoon by a Flying Pokemon.

For breakfast… why not rice balls with apicot berries stuffed in with a side of fish and rice omelets. It was more traditional type of breakfast that his mom would make when he was young. He found Anabel usually made more protein type morning meals with berries always thrown in the mix.

He swore that girl could live off of berries like a pokemon.  
In fact she probably had!  
But this really didn't matter to him though he would be indeed impressed. What mattered….

'!'

WAS NOT GETTING BREAKFAST BURNED!

"Pikapi! Pika pika!" The electric type was scolding him for his near mistake, luckily the trainer was had managed to save it. He wanted to say it still was normal but then again he also knew that his metabolism almost allowed him to eat anything with ease.

He heard the two pairs of foot steps, both light, one was broader than the pitter patter form on the side of the larger ones. A small smile greeted the two boys in the kitchen knowing who they belonged to.

From the entryway emerged a groggy looking Salon Maiden alongside a perky espeon.

"Wassa going on… Crap you're awake ahead of me." She seemed ashamed that she forgot to set her alarm clock, especially on this day. Of course… what she forgot was that this was the usual time waking up and Ash went the extra effort to get up earlier.  
The boy in near the stove didn't bother to correct her, it was kinda funny.

"Pikachuuuu." Pikachu went up to greet the sleepily girl and Espeon, they touching their tails together in friendly gesture.

To Anabel all she did was pull the two pokemon close to her and buried her face in their fur. Sometimes you just needed a soft loving thing to cuddle up with to get your day started. She was surprised though to see a plate of food she had not seen Ash served before appear before her.

Looking up revealed the small smiling slightly blushing face of Ash before he sat down in front of her.  
"I uh… this is a dish my mom made… its one of my favorites… so enjoy!" He quickly snapped to eat his dish, a bit embarrassed. Anabel's shoulders slumped in relief glad she didn't have to think more to make breakfast. Also that someone made breakfast for her… was really nice!

It was a fairly quiet but enjoyable meal. They didn't really need to speak; truth be told they didn't know what to say, so deciding to make things a little less awkward it would be best they didn't force themselves.

Anabel then noticed how nervous, and from what her senses told her, it wasn't from her tasting the food.

"Alright Ash, what is it?" She said pushing her food aside and look at him keenly to let him know he couldn't lie to her if he tried.

Ash sweat dropped nervously making Pikachu confused why he was acting this way.

"Well…. its….. ah…"

"Pikapi…" Spit it out already Pikachu would be saying.

"Its ah…" Ash was even more nervous now. It caused a stir of panic in the group when he suddenly bent as far as he could bowing his head in respect. "Its the fact! That I don't want you to tell my friends about us!"

He said this very quickly.

"Uuuhhhhh…" Anabel was at a lost for words. In fact her mind was blank. "Okay… sure."

The trainer's head snapped up. "You… you mean that?" Relief was already in his eyes.

Anabel deadpanned. "Yeah… If it makes you comfortable…" Her mind was still wrapping around this nonsense. It was too early for her to think of these things. "If you don't mind me asking…. what brought this up?"

At this, Ash slumped. "Yeah… You know how it seems that wherever I travel too I get at least one friend whos a girl that travels with me?" She nodded. "Well-" He voice took on a gruff tone. "I just realized that they did some things that I just noticed you do when you're around me… And I know for certain that no guys I traveled with did that."

"Ah." Was all Anabel said as she took a sip of tea. That… this was really, unexpected of Ash. But knowing that Ash and she herself didn't really know how to handle their relationship in a public setting and that they always kept it small, it was probably be for the best for them to keep quiet and see how everyone would react. Ash felt a wave of relief seeing that they could just keep all of… 'this' between them. It wasn't the fact that he didn't like being with Anabel, but something in his gut told him just to keep it low-key.

Pikachu shook his head not understanding a bit of what just happened. He shot a look at Espeon who wouldn't stop giggling though. Dumb psychic-type high IQ.

As per routine together they cleaned up and once again they were quiet for some time. It was when they were nearly done they spoke. spoke.  
"You ready?" Anabel asked. If she seemed sad, her voice and eyes betrayed no emotion.

Ash sighed. "Yes and no." He was a little confused, his emotion almost not even there… he really didn't know how he was suppose to react. However his eyes filled with determination. "But I'm gonna do this."

This was a satisfactory answer. "I'm glad." Anabel said. That is how Ash did things and she would not stop him. In fact, she was happy for Ash, very happy and she wanted to see him off to see his dream and if that meant seeing him less, than it was a worthy sacrifice. That was it would be if they were normal people. Being Ash and Anabel, it wasn't really a sacrifice really, just a minor inconvenience.

Feeling more happy and energized, Anabel took off his hat and ruffled his raven hair. The new trainer grinned brightly at the treatment before slugging his arm over her and then proceeded a light noogie.

"Hey!" She protested before he let go. She glared upward at her messy hair, then taking that gaze at Ash. Ash innocently shrugged. Her hair hair was already messed up when she came down here.

The glare still didn't let up.

It was on!

Scooping up Pikachu, Ash bolted for the door with a grin reaching all the way to his eyes. Anabel with Espeon were tailing behind them, one wanting mischievous revenge and the other in just for her trainer.

They were outside in the early sun's glow. The grass was still damp with dew getting their shoes wet as they ran through it. The two with their pokemon weaved around the lawn in their game of tag. Ash held a mischievous grin as he ducked Anabel's attempts to tag him, a laugh was on the verge of escaping him.

Before she knew it, Ash had Anabel in another headlock doing the same thing again.

"Ah ha haa! You're gonna have to do better than that!" Ash boasted to the Salon Maiden.

Anabel huffed before raising her fist. "Okay then!" She used what little momentum she had in his hold, she pushed backwards to make him lose his footing. Unfortunately, despite of her great tactical mind, Anabel failed to foresee that in doing this, she was being dragged down with him.

Pikachu was smart enough to leap off of Ash by the time this happened, grinning with Espeon on the two humans tumbling down to the floor. It was there that the starters tackled the stunned humans themselves.

They slumped on the ground in defeat, laughing at themselves before getting up. Already Anabel had forgotten what she was annoyed about instead so happy that she unconsciously leaned in towards the young man's shoulder causing Ash to blush. The two starters curled in between their two heads on the ground offering the comfort of familiarity.

They were quiet.  
They were always quiet whenever they were like this. These intimate moments.

Being who they were, what they knew, this relationship, was still unknown. The emotions of affection for someone not of their blood. For some part, they were uncomfortable taking action, weary of messing with something that was foreign to their lifestyles. So they were quiet, for the fact to feel instead of distract each other with words.

Besides Ash was never good at saying stuff and Anabel preferred to feel instead of speak, per example on how she battled.

At this moment was nice. That's all they needed to know.  
For a few minutes they lied their listening to the breeze until the pokemon's ears started to twitch. Soon enough the humans were able to detect the noise as well.

Tires on a dirt road, something uncommon for this part. Yet they knew what they belonged too.  
Ash helped Anabel up before heading back to the house to gather his things. Anabel with Pikachu and Espeon stood outside watching the large bus roll up to her small refuge.

She was surprised how gently it rolled in considering the normal driver in that bus. It was the normal hardly used Battle Frontier Bus. It was used for every upcoming Frontier Brain, this was no different from hers, sans she was being picked up from the Battle Pyramid.

She watched Scott emerge from the bus, the rest staying in as this was going to be short visit, they would see Ash soon.

Scott let out a huge grin seeing Anabel, you could tell he was beyond impressed with the whole thing. He was proud of Anabel, so very proud he could hug her, though he didn't as he knew she wouldn't be comfortable with that.

The sound of shoes hitting grass made them turn to Ash and Pikachu holding his bag and fingering Staraptor's container. Him and Pikachu grinned nervously, this was their big day after all.

"You know, if I didn't know you from when you first came to the Battle Frontier, I wouldn't have recognized you from the kid who went under apprenticeship just two months ago."

Pikachu let out a small pi in agreement. Ash however sighed. "Yep… I wouldn't have recognized me either. Goes to show how much I had to learn, and I still have a lot more to learn."

He saw Anabel grin grabbing his hand firmly. "Then you're not alone. I say, let's keep on learning together." The Pikachu Trainer could sense her determination behind her voice and it occurred to him, that Anabel had changed too. Maybe not as much as him, but there was something there. She was, a little bit outgoing like him. His eyes widened at this understanding; this would be his secret.

"Thanks." He said to her before turning to Scott with a determined face. "We'll all help each other and others too. Humans and Pokemon. That's what that Battle Frontier does." At these words Scott couldn't be anymore prouder, and this confirmed it, this kid was gonna be the greatest Pokemon Trainer of all time. The one who will solve the mystery of Pokemon Master.

"Yep but its time to go." Scott said.

Ash and Anabel nodded, one last look to each other saying they would see each other soon.

Ash released his flying type with ease.

"Star!" A quick nudge the Predator Pokemon beckoned Ash on his back. It best they took off quickly to arrive in Pallet Town before noon.

So with a wave goodbye to his friends, knowing he would see them in a least one day and a half or if he was unlucky due to Scott's driving, two days.

He barely saw Anabel and Scott waving back as they took off to the sky, flying over the forest near Tohjo Falls. He could feel Pikachu's small claws grasp his shoulder tightly as they sped up. They were off to the last step of Battle Frontier journey. Only this time, he was on the other side of the battle field.

* * *

"Star…." Ash had snapped out a of a traveling stupor when he heard Staraptor growl. Underneath his palms he could feel the muscles tense up. It was just like when Team Rocket attacked him in Saffron City.  
They were above Viridian Forest and then a hoard of black shapes emerged from the trees, a collection pidgey came hurtling at them.

"Staraptor! Dodge! Do what ever you can to avoid it!" Ash clasped down tightly on the bird's body in a way he would not fall off yet allowing the wings to flap freely. Pikachu was now on his back gasping his neck tightly.

"STARRRR!" The Flying type dived down with speed that surpassed any of the pidgey. All of them vainly trying to peck at the human and pokemon.

"We need to get on ground, Pikachu can attack from there without harming you!" Ash yelled as loud as he could.

"RAPTOR!"

A clearing of the trees they were able to make it faster than the hoard, and safely to the ground. Ash and Pikachu got off quickly both in crouching form ready to attack.  
As you could tell now, Ash was going to be on the front lines when they were attack, no longer would he be a side just giving out commands.

A large silhouette. flapped in front of them, landing on a rock. Staraptor leapt in front growling loudly at the larger Pokemon.

"PIDGEOT!" It's cries echoed in the forest.

However a bell went off in Ash's head recognizing that voice. The same could be said for Pikachu. Running up in front Ash and Pikachu spread their arms out preventing either side to attack each other.

"Stop this!"

"Pikachu!"

Staraptor looked divided from listening to his trainer or following his instincts.

"Pidgeot! Its me Ash and Pikachu."

Coming into the light, it was indeed the first flying type Ash ever trained blinking in confusion. Who could blame him, last time he saw his dear trainer Ash was a little boy, small, something to be protected. Not to wild one, not this one who reeked of danger and strange power.

But the warmth and the gentleness of the boys and pikachu's eyes made it recall back to the same eyes that little boy had.

"Pidge…" His voice was hesitant causing Ash to reach for his back. It was something he always carried. In his hand was the Bird Pokemon's Poke'ball; a bond of trust, despite of being separate, Ash had not forgotten the loyalty the first flying type gave him.

Staraptor stood still, a mix of jealousy and awe dwelled in him looking at the Pidgeot. It was obvious that his natural rival was very important to his trainer.

The Bird pokemon flew forward not believing his eyes but it was true, that was the container it lived a year and a half in. This was indeed Ash and Pikachu. Its dear friends.

But…

"Pidgeot…"

Ash smiled knowingly. "This is still your home though. You still want to protect your pack and I understand that." He pointed to the Predator Pokemon."Pidgeot this is my friend Staraptor. I met him in a region called Sinnoh as a starly. And Staraptor as you can probably guess this is my first flying type Pidgeot. So… don't worry about me. And I haven't replaced you Pidgeot. your still my friend." Ash looked to Pikachu both a little sad. "I wanted to get back to you sooner but I kept getting distracted by my joinery. And I think that we both realize that it won't be the same in the future." The human placed his hand on the pokemon's head. "We each have our own path, but we'll always be friends. I be sure to up in more of an effort to visit you. Besides-" He winked. "With my new job me and Pikachu will be sticking around here for another three months so when I get time off I'll hand around here and I'll bring new friend to visit you each time, hows that sound?"

Even though they had been separate the bonds of friendship withstood the trial of time with these two. And Pidgeot realized that even though his dear trainer changed it may have been for better. Ash along with Pikachu could handle themselves and with pride knew he didn't need to depend on him anymore.

Yes, this was good.

When a warm goodbye and a begrudging respectful nod from the staraptor, Pidgeot watched as they departed from Viridian forest. His heart… a little lighter and he was eager for the next visit.

* * *

Soon enough the view of Pallet Town underneath the shining sun was in Ash's and Pikachu's view. From where their gaze in the wind everything about the small down looked normal and familiar as they imagined it in their hearts however, a important and new detail escaped them. Guess the sun's rays were far brighter to hide the tall silhouette.

Little did they know that a group of familiar people were on the look out for him. They were positioned near the Ketchum house; an obvious

"Do you seem him?" Dawn asked looking through a pair of binoculars. Everyone else with had one or were peering through squinting eyes.

"Nope." May said roaming the horizon.

"Well well well, if the whole gain isn't here?" A voice appeared from the side. Everyone turned to see…

Freaking Gary Oak.

Along side Professor Oak.

Dawn instantly had stars in her eyes seeing the pokemon poem legends. Everyone else however..

"Umm… Gary what you doing here?" Brock would expect Professor Oak but wasn't Gary usually off somewhere conducting research?

Gary laughed. "Good question. As soon as Gramps heard about Ashy-boy's went off to be a Frontier Brain he called me up to see what this was all about."

Professor Oak nodded. "This is not just a thing for Ash, its become a huge thing for Pallet Town. Why if this is successful we may get far more visitors here which would be beneficial for your town."

Everyone nodded. This was a big thing, especially now this humble little place had a huge castle at the edge of it now.

"So who are you to Ash?" Barry asked wondering why this random dude showed up.

Gary winked. "Why, I'm his rival of course. I knew Ash even before he became a trainer."

Barry no less, freaked out about this. His status of Ash's rival was threatened by the presence of this guy.

"Of course. Ash beat me and because of that I found my calling as a Pokemon Researcher rather than a trainer."

Okay, Barry was safe. For now.

Misty however smirked. "You're gonna try to make being a Frontier Brain overbearing for him aren't you?"

Gary laughed. "You got that right. I would never miss up a chance to tease our favorite trainer.'

"Everyone over here!" Tracy with Max waved over everyone to their spot. They pointed to look over the horizon. "There."

And you could see something heading their way, an awkward shape that couldn't be just a flying pokemon, someone had to be on it. Then the shape started to descend at about several meters away from the edge of town and all the kids rushed up to the landing mark leaving the adults behind.

Oak was bewildered how these kids always had this much energy while Delia was completely unfazed.

"What are you smiling about Delia?" Professor Oak said wearily. He knew that smile, it was knowing, knowing that a surprise was in store.

"Oh… you'll see. I wish I had a camera over there though." She said with a bit of mischief.

"Uh-huh." The Pokemon Scientist decided it would be best he didn't try to privy into that. Save him a headache in the end.

* * *

Ash was unaware at the crowd rushing over to him, more focused on keeping a grasp on Pikachu and his bag and positioning his feet right on Staraptor before jumping off from 10 feet from the air. He landed crouching down before feeling the breeze of his pokemon's powerful wings flap next to him.

"Strraarrrr…." The predator pokemon said with pride in his voice.

Ash smiled unaware of the crowned that had stopped behind him. "That's was great Staraptor! Sorry we had to go through all that, you alright?"

"Raptor."

Ash smiled smoothing his feathers in appreciation. "Alright then. Go on with the others, tell them I'll be with the rest soon." With this, Staraptor took of to the Pokemon sanctuary; it was then that Ash and Pikachu noticed they were not alone. A happy grin spread on the duo's faces.

"Oh wow! I didn't expect you guys! Brock, Misty, you guys look different! And I didn't expect Barry and Zoey here either! How are you doing?" Ash said excitingly with Pikachu squeaking with delight at the sight of the faces of their friends.  
However is action was not returned as they just stood there, eyes wide and some jaws open. The trainer's and Pikachu's grin faltered. "Uh… guys….." He and Pikachu stared at each other worriedly.

As for Ash friends: Barry, Zoey, Brock, Dawn, Max, May, Gary and Misty all stood shocked to who this person was.

This was Ash right? He had the Pikachu out, and a red cap but…

This guy, he was somehow… more feral than the original Ash. From underneath that red cap was a far more wild mane of jet black hair, his skin far tanner and rougher. When Ash had grinned they were intimidated how Luxrayish it seemed. Even his new outfit seemed to give the normally kidish trainer an edge. And don't even get them started on how unnerving his eyes were. And Pikachu seemed to have this charge around him that made your hairs stand on the back of your neck like static before a lightning storm.

Said duo however were completely oblivious to this and were wondering what was wrong with everyone. Did Team Rocket attack them or something?

Ash was surprised to see Gary standing there, he didn't figure that his first rival to be here. But still he was excited to see the guy.  
So as everything Ash does, with a smile and a nudge from Pikachu, the trainer went to greet his old friend.

"Hey Gary didn't expect to see you here. And I-" For the first time Gary blinked when Ash looked beyond surprised. "OH GOSH!" Ash yelled in glee. "Am I as tall as you now?!" Quickly he took off his hat to measure the height from their heads. Ash's hand went just two millimeters more above Gary's. It really wasn't much but you know how Ash is… or boy's in general.

"I'm taller than you?! FINALLY!" Ash cheered right in his friends face, before trapping him in a headlock in good cheer. "This is awesome right Pikachu?!"

Pikachu however seemed still more bothered by the fact that hardly anyone was reacting to their arrival and let Ash know that he may be choking his friend.

"Oh shoot." Ash let go as Gary took gasped to regain his breath. Being that hold was like being in one with a fighting-type.

"Okay seriously guys what's wrong?" He asked with a frown.

"Oh Ash! Its good to see you!" Delia seemed to appear out of no where and saved the day for Ash's friends.

Said trainer and Pikachu were more than happy to see their loving mother. It was finally when Ash's attention turned away from them, that his friends finally got snapped out of their dazed thoughts and when Gary caught his breath.

Delia quickly gained control by sweeping Ash to show him his new Battle Facility and inviting his friends for a tour. This have them time to compose and stand back as mother and son and starter chatted away towards town.

Barry was the first one to speak. "Are… are we sure… that's Ash?" He whispered to the group.

Those who knew him the longest, Brock, Misty, Tracy and Gary nodded been even you could see the bewilderment in their eyes.

"Yeah he does seem different." May had to admit with Dawn and Zoey agreeing with what she said. Last time they had all seen him was a bouncy kid of thirteen…. fourteen? Years of age.

Of course the guy in front of them was still a bit bouncy… but he was a guy. That was far more accurate to call him than a kid.

Max however had stars in his eyes. "Aw man! Ash is soooo cool!" He didn't seem to be bothered by the radical (or not so radical change depending on who you are) in fact even to hold Ash in further esteem and occurred to him that his friend was going to be a Frontier Brain.

He got up close to the trainer.

"So Ash! I gotta hear it; you are really going to be a Frontier Brain?"

They stopped and Ash and Pikachu grinned. "… Sure thing! I just finished my last test a few days ago."

"Wait if you finished by then how come you didn't come back when you were done?" Someone asked for behind.

The group in front turned, the person who asked the question must've been Zoey (to which Ash wondered why she was here but didn't mind).

In sink the human and electric type rose their brows asking 'seriously?'.

"To rest. The test I had really pushed Pikachu and I our limits, not to mention nearly all of my pokemon had to rest just from the training to the test as well."

Ash understood where they were coming from, joining the Battle Frontier at first Ash just thought he would train and and then 'poof' he would be a Frontier Brain. However as he learned over the months it was far more, far more meaningful than that.

"Mind telling us what that is?" Gary said with a cocky smirk. It would be hilarious to hear Ash trying to take a handwritten test.

Ash shrugged. "Sorry, can't."

"Aw why not?" Max asked with big eyes. He really wanted to know what Ash did. What kind of adventures happened.

"Yeah Ash. Its not like you to not tell us." Tracy said with a frown.

Once again Ash shrugged before casting a glance to Pikachu. "Hey its not like I don't want to ask its just that I am not allowed too. Being part of the Battle Frontier, I can't just blab about everything to do."

Least to say that his friends were amazed. Ash was saying this like it was the most casual thing. In fact this was reminiscent of how Delia treated the whole situation. This was indeed a business, and sometimes outsiders weren't allowed to learn everything like any other company.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

But enough was enough. Ash really wanted to see his new Battle Facility. "Can we please get going though? I really wanna see this by new place."

Everyone nodded wanting to see the inside. And needless to say that once the glowing view of the Battle Castle was in sight, Ash's boyish personality and excitement and Pikachu's similar chatter towards his trainer.

Both of their eyes glowed in amazement at the grandeur of the building. In front of it, in a stained glass window was the same symbol that was on his red cap.

The Symbol of the Battle Frontier.

Seeing it confirmed it in the duo's hearts that they were going to be… or already were part of the Battle Frontier.

Professor Oak was standing there looking professional however Ash could tell that the man was pleased with these turn of events.

He opened the grand door that was engraved with the Poke'ball symbol allowing everyone in.

Inside was just as nice. It was not lavish but it had a great sense of order and refinement. It was made for a warrior and soldiers not royalty. Of course along with the architecture and finishing were the modern elements. There were computer panels for logging or registering for battles and desks for the receptionist.

Further along the halls were tapestries of… well who else? Pikachu. Pikachu using Volt Tail on Latios from Tobias at Sinnoh League, another showing battling with a powerful Iron Tail Electivire. Some where even showing Pikachu's Volt Tackle against Brandon's Regice and a familiar looking Espeon.

Everyone was very impressed with this.

"Looks like Pikachu is going to be your mascot isn't he?" May stated her eyes shining on the vibrate decorations.

"I think… its far more than that." Gary said quietly looking on how it seemed like the Mouse Pokemon was leaning on his trainer with such trust.

Sometimes… he really envied Ash's closeness to his starter. Gary was proud to admit he was close to his starter Blastoid but… what Ash and Pikachu had were a league of their own.

There were several wings around the castle, each having a certain type of battle field. Sure it didn't have the diversity of the Battle Tower but it looked like it held much more structure and ceremonial for other battles. There was also a grand ball room, holding a grand chandelier, tall lancet windows, a smooth shining marble floor and an upper floor level holding chairs for spectators of important status. You could see faint outlines along the floor showing that even this place could be used as a Pokemon Battle Field.

"Apparently they implemented brand new material for foundations to withstand even of the strongest Pokemon attacks. Even the windows can even take a Brick Break and not even rattle." Professor Oak said eyeing the room around him.

He explained how he had looked into the construction of the Battle Castle in the development process. He said in case of a mass storm, this place would also be good for all the residents to take shelter in, if Ash would allow it of course.

Ash nodded, a strange look came over his eyes, as he changed from an excited trainer to what would be later known as his Frontier Brain demeanor. "Yeah that would be perfect. Also invite any of the weaker wild pokemon in so that they can be safe too."

Oak… questioned that. Bringing in Wild Pokemon were dangerous around humans. He would have to talk to Ash later. Of course the Professor didn't know that Ash had gotten a lot better acquainted with the behaviors of wild pokemon thanks to one person.

To the last room where a throne room would be, above the main hall through even more doors was a large private area. It a nice long rectangular room with a stained glass window had been placed on the back mostly clear glass but with a Poke'Ball in the center. Looking through it revealed a huge courtyard that will be Ash's Pokemon's personal area if they didn't feel like hanging around Oak's field anymore It held other chairs and couches in the back with counters, one of them holding a machine with faucets, some doors were carefully hidden behind some tapestries as well. The main piece was the desk in front of them. It was made of a rich wood and full of shelves and cupboards for putting things in.

This must be Ash's main desk for his building.  
They all admired the great looking room, each checking out everything in it.

"Wow this is pretty amazing isn't it Ash?" Dawn said.

"Yes, the Battle Frontier really seems to know how to make a great quarters." Brock said envying the fact that he didn't get anything like his back when he was a gym leader.

Barry tried not to be impressed. "My dad's building is bigger." He said earning a smack from Zoey

However it seemed like the trainer didn't hear them. Instead he was staring at a stack of paper that was about two inches thick. On it was a sticky note from, who else, Scott.

It read:

'Hey there new recruit! Time to be a proper Frontier Brain. I need these signed out before the week's end. I know you can do it my #1 Pikachu Trainer.'  
It was signed with Scott and a smiley face giving peace sign.

It was a hilarious sight seeing Ash and Pikachu's face having the exact same facial expression. Disbelief and irritation.

"I CAN'T GO TWO DAYS WITHOUT HAVING TO DO THESE STUPID THINGS!"

Ash yelled now with a full out glare towards the offending papers.

Without ceremony he fell to the office chair with Pikachu on the desk holding out a pen.

"Ash dear what's wrong?" Delia asked worried about her son's sudden behavior.

Ash mumbled something about 'gotta finish things' still glaring at the forms. Brock and Tracy instantly got worried, like a bigger brother watching their younger brother try a new thing.

"Ash do you-"

Yet the trainer waved them off. "Don't worry, I've done practice versions of these before." He turned to his group of friends. "Hey, you guys can go ahead, I need to fills these out so I can spend the rest of my time with you guys alright?" He showed a grin.

Once again everyone was surprised by Ash's sudden proactive behavior.

Feeling like he said something wrong, Ash said they could still hang out with him.

Delia however made everyone move out so they wouldn't disrupt Ash's work so he could get everything done quickly.

Once they were all gone Ash sighed but it was a happy one.

"Pikachuuu." The start let out a sigh as well when Ash started to pet him.

"We did it Pikachu. We really did."

End of Chapter 27

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter but I need to recharge my brain meats for the next dozy of a chapter.**

**I hope I did everyone well enough.**

**Misty still hasn't registered the fact that Ash is here so expect Misty Hammer Time.**

**(Dunn an na duna duna!)**

**I fear I may be bordering on the brink of true OOCness (In fact I had a whole segment of them questioning if he is the real Ash May put that as an extra somewhere) however this is coming from the recent changes of Ash. **

**They will soon be back to… 'normal' soon enough.**

**Hope you guys enjoy the story.**


	28. Confrontation

**I AM REALLY SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE DURING THE MONTH OF MAY!**

**It was FINALS! I'm in college!**

**Nothing much happens during this chapter, just characters being together. Plus more introductions.**

**It's a really short chapter to make up for my lack of productivity. **

**Now that my tears have subsided I do have some news for you guys.**

**First off, now that I have finished my first year at SCAD, I will be writing like crazy this summer in an attempt to wrap up this story. I think we may have 3-10 chapters to go before we are done depending on how I want to frame it. So I am going to write like crap!**

**Second!**

**I have a BETA READER!**

**His name is Ghost501 and if you like MegaMan stories and a fast updater than read his stuff!  
****Thank you Ghost501.**

**Remember I still have a twitter for updates and other stuff ****at True-InTha-Blue ****or Blue Spinda**

**Also I posted a picture of Anabel, Ash and Jed with their starters**

**Its just a rough thing so nothing special both on my DeviantArt page (True-InTha-Blue) and My Twitter BlueSpinda or True-InTha-Blue**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another  
By True-InTha-Blue  
Chapter 28  
Confrontation

x

It was night time by the hour Ash and Pikachu entered the door to the Ketchum household. The faint smell of his mom's cooking was still wafting in the hallways. Both of their stomach growled with great ferocity as the two had put all their concentration on the workload.

Their eyes were tired, and the long journey back that happened this morning to top it all off had made the two just have less energy than usual. They really hoped that nothing would go wrong for the rest of the night.

Pikachu arched his back and Ash stretched his limbs to work out the kinks before coming to the common room where everyone, somehow, was able to squeeze in. They were talking and didn't immediately notice Ash. It was May who spotted him first and offered him a place on the chair. Ash however declined; unceremoniously sitting on the floor next to the coffee table. As per her motherly nature, Delia already had his meal out in no time along with food for Pikachu.

Resisting the urge to gulp it all down, Ash slowly picked on it as his friends asked him questions.

"I'm surprised that you were able to finish all that in one day Ash." Tracy said with a surprised face.

Ash have him a blank stare. "Yeah... no. I only got it a quarter done and that's because most of it was a checklist for the Battle Facility. Made me and Pikachu search for hours on every nook and cranny in there. Still it was a good way to see everything that place has." Ash explained.

Gary however questioned this. "Who taught you to fill forms?"

"A- ah… My teacher." Once again he had to stifle his tongue.

"And that is…" Zoey rose an eyebrow at his unspecific answer.

But Ash was saved by the intervention of his mother. "Oh! Who wants dessert?!" She came in the room with cake in her hands.

Immediately the delicious smell of fresh homemade pecha berry cake made everyone forget the unanswered question. Ash had glanced a quick look at his mom. He was shocked to see a more or less, knowing wink at passed by unobserving eyes.

He was defiantly going to thank her later.

So Ash and Pikachu helped themselves to the sweet treat however keeping a eye out for everyone. For some reason they felt… strange. Like they were not used to this. But thinking back, they had spent nearly three months in either, work, minor contact socializing and traveling like he used to and training pokemon with intense concentration.

This casual chaotic and somehow normalcy was just a bit uncomfortable. However they would just have to get over it. They were their friends and they were here to see them rise to the status of a member of the Battle Frontier.

So he smiled at them. "You know, I really missed you guys after these months."

"Pikachu." Pikachu agreed but then his fur raised on edge. Quickly he jumped off of Ash on to the floor.

"Pikachu what's up?"

"Hey Ash." It was Misty.

"Oh he-"

_THAWK!_

"WHY ON EARTH DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT-" It was then Misty noticed that her patented Misty mallet had NOT knocked Ash on the ground with a lump on his head. Merely he was wincing in pain rubbing the spot where it hit.

"Geez! That's smarts… gonna wake up with a headache tomorrow."

Everyone's eyes widen, especially Tracy who remembered taking the same attack before crumpling like a sack of rocks on contact. Ash merely seemed to just get a dent. As the pain slowly ebbed off (but it was still there) Ash noticed their looks. He smirked. "It wasn't just my Pokemon who got tougher. I trained as well, right Pikachu?"

Pikachu pumped his fist up in agreement letting out a cry.

The trainer turned to Misty. "But seriously what were you saying? I wasn't paying attention." Despite of what happened, he was still the old Ash at times as everyone sweat dropped at his denseness of just being hit.

Misty looked nervous. This got her off her game as Ash didn't do what he normally did, like get angry and yell thus giving her the opportunity to explain properly like she usually would. "I uh… It's rude that you didn't tell me that you got back from Sinnoh, even ruder that you just went off to be a Frontier Brain without telling m- the rest us." Her face was blushing but the trainer didn't seem to notice this.

Ash looked down with a frown on his face. "Sorry." He said truly sincere. If Misty's eyes could've widen any further they would have. Everyone was silent.

"It wasn't right of me to go off on this without letting you guys know." A look came over to his eyes before sitting down on the couch and holding Pikachu closely. "But… to be honest… I was scared."

"Why would you be scared Ash?" Zoey asked looking concerned at the trainer. She had never seen this side of the boy she met. She was worried about him but at the same time it was really… cute.

Ash looked away, a color of embarrassment flushed on his cheeks. "Of you guys. I mean… I always talk about how I'm going to win every league that I enter and I seem to just come up short. I kinda felt like I disappointed you all as my friends." He was blunt about this, following his guts to not hide his feelings.

This confession touched hearts of even the most latest of Ash's friends. Now this was not to say Ash was an recluse emotional person. It just so happened he wasn't really sensitive even about himself. But when you are around an extremely sensitive person for a while, finding how you react to things emotionally allows one to be more expressive about themselves.

Brock went up to his friend, impressed by seeing this rare side of him. However it seemed there was still a slight frown in disapproval still on there. "I can see where you are coming from Ash but you shouldn't have run off. We could have helped you."

And though Ash knew Brock said this out of concern, irritation still welled up inside of him. He wanted to tell Brock that how come they didn't make sure he was alright after his defeat? He wanted to ask them how come they never noticed he was battling so poorly? But Ash didn't. It wouldn't be fair. After all, he himself didn't notice his decline as a trainer.

In the end though, Ash was kinda glad he didn't tell anyone. The whole point of becoming a Frontier Brain was to try a new direction in his life, if his friends tagged along than that would be defeating the purpose. Also that Ash would not nearly have gotten as much done if they were all there.

His friends were great… but they were not serious trainers. Not even Barry though the kid had a good determination, he was still far more wet behind the ears.

As he was thinking this, Pikachu had noticed his trainer was getting tired.

"Pikachu. Pikapi pika chu." He said tugging at his shirt. The electric type faked a yawn and Ash got what he was saying.

"Hey guys. Looks like Pikachu is beat from today. So you mind if I turn him in?" He asked with a grin. Despite of them wanting to talk to Ash more they couldn't say no to that face. It had been long day for them both and maybe Ash would be more talkative when he had rested.

Before they wished him goodnight, Ash turned around in confusion. "Wait a second. Where are you guys staying?"

Gary waved him off to not worry. "That's taken care of, the boys and I are staying at gramps place while the girls are resting over here."

Ash and Pikachu suddenly freaked out. "Wait! I don't know-" Everyone was surprised to see a huge blush come over their faces. "Mom! Is this allowed? I can go over and sleep at Oak's."

Delia however smiled and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. It was just then that everyone realized that Ash was a little bit taller than her.

"Oh honey, you can still use your room. Don't worry about it. Though its nice that your acting like such a gentleman."

Taking the compliment Ash nodded before bidding everyone goodnight. Once again, they were all standing speechless at the Pikachu Trainer's constant surprises in his personality.

Misty, who knew Ash the longest, realized what he was implying and insisted going up to ask Ash, _politely_, to confirm her suspicions.

She had left and everyone was left to their own, albeit confused, devices. They wanted to continue to discuss but before they even sat back down, a loud piercing scream flooded the house.

It came from Ash's room. It sounded like Misty!

Everyone quickly rushed up the stairs to see what's wrong.

There stood Misty at the doorway, a face of shock and disgust.

Ash was there frozen like he had been hit with a Thunder Wave, holding his shirt and sleeveless jacket standing with a bare torso, while Pikachu stood still on his dresser with an equal look of shock and nervousness. His yellow face looked guilty as his eyes tried not to stare at his shocked human friends. As for the humans their eyes returned to Ash; they found out why Misty screamed.

Around Ash's lower torso were angry looking scars that had marred his skin and making it looked his colored. There were also some minor scratches and scars that also were around him but they were very minor compared to the mural of burns that twisted and collided on his waist.

Everyone looked horrified and it took May a few seconds to choke out her next words.

"Ash are you alright?!" She ran up to him, knocking everyone off the paralysis spell. She tried to reach out to Ash but instictivly he took a step back.

His friends all rushed up as if he was just suddenly injured. Delia stayed behind calmly watching how this will play out.

"Ash how did this happen?" Brock angrily demanded. He wasn't angry at his friend per say but how this situation happened. It disturbed him to not know what Ash had been up too without him. After being at his friends side for nearly four years, seeing the younger boy have this huge injury was just… just wrong!

Ash stayed firm against Brock. He stared at everyone feeling annoyed they were making such a big deal of this and suddenly he felt very uncomfortable and felt bad they discovered this change this way. But it never occurred to him to tell his friends that 'Hey guys, I just took two Hyper Beams to the face to save a girl I like.'

Yeah that wouldn't go over well.

But Ash couldn't really get away with this but what he could do at least was think this through.

"Listen. He said holding his hands up to prevent them from jumping to unnecessary conclusions. "I know I should have told you about this. But there was never a good time. And me and Pikachu just got here. We didn't expect you at all. So please just… give us a chance to explain. But really I would like to do that tomorrow."

"Why can't we learn it now?" Dawn said angrily.

Ash was tempted to glare but kept it in check. "because I am tired, and to be honest remembering the situation to how I got _these_-" He gestured to the burns causing the others to wince. "-is not exactly fun. Please… just let me sleep."

Misty wanted to touch the scars, not believing they were there. "Okay Ash." She said gently but quickly took on her tough look. "BUT, you better tell us what happened mister."

Ash relaxed. "Sure thing." But then he tensed. "But seriously! Get out of my room! I'm getting dressed here!" Comedically, he shoved his friends out the door before slamming it in embarrassment. Even the normally dense trainer had a sense of modesty.

Back in the living room every was at lost of words for what… whatever happened.

With concerned looks casted towards each other, no more words were exchanged when the respective genders went their separate ways.

* * *

The morning and this time Ash wasn't surprised not to wake up to the cottage in the wood's guest room. The familiar feel of his home bed told him he was at his home in Pallet Town. Pikachu was snoozing on his chest with sun rays making the yellow fur shine.

Amber eyes lazily roamed around his room, the old posters, out of date TV, and pokemon merchandise along with his Kanto/Johto and Hoenn hat lined on his desk. He frowned remembering how his Sinnoh hat had been destroyed by those Hyper Beams. And in recalling that, our trainer let out a sigh. He had to tell his friends what happened. He really didn't want to do that.

To Ash, making his friends worry was one of the worst things he could do.

Luckily he had time to think what he was going to talk about.

Still didn't mean he liked it. His alarm showed it was only seven o'clock so he still had time to just lay in bed and rest.

A small little frown was dotted on his face. Already a small little hollow feeling was in his chest. Probably where his heart was as cheesy as that sound. He missed the Salon Maiden. Though he would see her in a few more day it was still a little off putting. He bet Pikachu missed Anabel and Espeon as well.

He did a light groan. "This is so cheesy." With ease that came from many years of practice, Ash slid out of bed without waking up Pikachu to get dressed in his, kinda new, Battle Frontier outfit.

He wondered if anyone was awake yet but decided it would be better to go down an hour later. Looking out eastern window in his room, the looming shadow of the Battle Castle glowed in the morning sun. It was bathed in the bright orange and red of the dawn, sticking out as a symbol of victory.

It was Ash's victory. No… it was his team as a whole, it was their victory. In that grand building, they will thrive and with them, so will he.

Few more days, few more days until he was he would be officially declared as a full blown member of the Battle Frontier.

"Pi… pi-ka…" Ash turned to see his starter waking up. "Hey buddy." Out of compulsion he started to pet his electric type to help him wake up.

Soon enough, Pikachu was rubbing against his hand. The faint charge of static coursed through the human's fingers as they rubbed through the fur.

"Hey wanna go check on everyone?"

Pikachu nodded, now wide awake. Taking his usual place on Ash's shoulder Pikachu urged the trainer forward. Ash however debated whether or not to go downstairs.

Instead he got an idea. Going out the eastern window, Ash was able to jump on a branch of a nearby tree. He was able to get down without any hassle and best of all he wouldn't disturb anyone in the house.

He and Pikachu walked towards Professor Oak's lab. But when Ash meant everyone, he meant his Pokemon. It was time to move them to the Battle Castle, that is if they wanted to. His reason that it would be handy for the season to have his pokemon at beck and call whenever someone would challenge him.

"I hope they don't mind being a bit away from the Pokemon labs after so long." Turning to his trusted buddy, it was his way to ask of the pokemon's approval silently.

"Pikaaachu." The electric type merely shrugged, he didn't know. He was the wrong Pokemon to ask since he had never spent a single moment in Oak's Pokemon sanitary. It all boiled down to the personal opinion of the rest of the team.

Remembering that the boys were also staying in Oak's lab, Ash decided to take another detour off to the Pokemon Sanctuary. He went around the building past the boarder rocks around the place. With strength that came from many days of intense training, the human was able to bond over them like a any pokemon before him.

Covered in a thick dense forest with plains, rivers, and rocky crags and caves dotting across it, this was a place to suit pokemon of every type's needs. Some pokemon were part of a humans team and some of them were wild. But the strange thing was is that none of the Pokemon, even the rambunctious primeape, didn't try to ward the human off, or even shy away from them like they would to any stranger who didn't follow the road. It was a like the scent of the wilderness had permeated deep inside the trainer's skin. What ever it was Ash was completely oblivious to this, simply enjoying the walk and keeping an eye out for his pokemon.

Pikachu on the other hand did, and his cheeks sparked with pride on the fact that he did have a trainer like this. They really had come a long way since they met and that so much has change… but to those of the unobserved so much had stayed the same and it was stronger still. This caused his black eyes to stare at his trainer, wondering about the inner and physical differences.

Yes for the most part Ash was still the same. He was still hot headed, passionate and a bit dense. He was also still kind and caring and the human still loved to make friends with everyone. But how he was approaching this normal traits were different.

Pikachu had noticed that before Ash got hot headed he had to have a good reason for that. To be passionate he expressed inwardly and when the time was right outwardly and when he was dense came to things that he was truly unexperienced about and the human wasn't afraid to let people know that he didn't know about things.

Ash was showing a type of kindness that came with gruffness and then surprising gentleness and as for making friends Ash wanted to get to know people but now he didn't want to invade their personal space, letting things just take their coarse more.

Did all humans have this happen to them when they… grew up?

He shook his tiny head at the thought.

Probably not, it seemed they were all different but that was okay.

It added diversity to each and every team they encountered.

Though musing in his thoughts, Pikachu was spotted a quick grey blur on the edge of his vision before it darted sneakily behind a tree. A sly little grin showed on his muzzle before tugging on a piece of his trainer's hair to get his attention.

"Hmm?" Ash leaned into what Pikachu was whispering and watched as the pokemon pointed to the tree he saw something go to before pointing up. And though Ash could not understand Pokemon with the fluency of the Salon Maiden, the bond between the two was enough to get Ash to have the same sly grin reflecting on his face too.

* * *

"DONPHAN!" The Ground type had jumped out from behind his hiding spot to surprise his trainer and the starter however he noticed what was once there was no were to be found.

"Don?"

"Larvitar?" The Rock Skin Pokemon had came out of his hiding place too, just as confused as the Rollout Pokemon before him.

Soon enough some other of Ash's Pokemon were coming out to see what happened to their trainer and starter. Infernape, Buizel, Gabite and Muk joined the fray.

"Bui bui?" The Sea Weasel pokemon asked the others to where did their trainer go.

Infernape just shrugged while, Gabite and Muk looked around. They looked around at lost before hearing some noise and giggles from above.

Looking up they saw Ash and Pikachu on a tree branch giggling with Noctowl nudging them. Noticing they had been spotted, the human and electric type got down from their perch with the shiny pokemon flying down with them.

"Nice try guys." Ash said referring to their attempts to sneak up on them.

Everyone shrugged; Larvitar running up to his trainer with the same intent as usual.  
"Aw geez." Ash said before being tackled to the ground by Larvitar's overbearing weight to hug and Gabite taking an affectionate bite of his head per usual.

Pikachu, who had jumped out of the way, giggled watching his trainer fumble. A large shadow had been cast over him though causing his ears to droop in dread. "Muk!" Hearing the Poison types call, Pikachu let out a small squeak before being engulfed into what is the worlds largest goop hug.

"Alright guys enough. We've only been separated for a day." Ash said after he wrangled his head from his the Cave Pokemon's toothy grapple. Larvitar was clinging on his leg making it, once again, hard to walk.

"Can all of you gather everyone? I want to talk to them. Tell them to meet me around the start of the path."

With obedience that came out of pure respect and loyalty, the pokemon grunted before rushing off to find the rest of their teammates to meet up with their trainer.

Ash looked to Pikachu who then looked at Larvitar, the toddler still clinging on to his pant leg. Only this time it was out of fun instead of fear.

"I'm not going to get you off am I?" Ash asked with a sweat drop.

Said pokemon looked up cheerily in defiance. "Lar!"

"I'll take that as a no." Ash said with a sigh. "Looks like you'll need to go ahead of me Pikachu. I may be a little bit late."

"Pipipipi." The Mouse Pokemon giggled before bonding off to the path as Ash trudged behind dragging the heavy toddler on his leg.

_'At least I can get a work out on this.'_ He thought to himself unamused by his pokemon's antics.

It took only a few minutes to get at the designated location however it certainly didn't make the trainer feel better seeing all his Pokemon there ahead of him.

"Alright guys listen up." He said ignoring the weight still attached to his leg. Watching his pokemon react, it amazed Ash how much devotion they showed snapping to attention like a well oiled machine. "As you know like Anabel and the rest of the Frontier Brain's I have been assigned a Battle Facility as well and in it is a place were all of you guys can hang out but I totally understand if you would rather remain here" Ash announced. He watched them all seem to muse about the benefits of going there, some even talking to the others

"I'll give you guys sometime to think about it." He decided to say.

The Pokemon appreciated that. But they saw their trainer looking up to the sun for some reason before his luxray grin showed on his face.

"And we have time… who wants to do some training for a little bit?" The human asked with his amber eyes flaring blue. The response was unanimous.

It came to an all out, duke out, brawl. Pokemon and one human fought against each other to expend the morning energy they had pent up inside them to get the day started.

Thirty minutes was enough to warm them up and get them ready for anything. However this also left empty stomachs making the trainer and his team temporary go their separate ways leaving Ash and Pikachu walking back to the Ketchum house.

"Pika pika." A pleasant scent hit the electric types nose before he notified his trainer about it.

"Everyone must be awake then." Ash said with a grin. Hopefully his friends should be in a better mood for him to tell his tale. Though in the back of his mind, the trainer noticed that though that this breakfast didn't have the smell of berries like he had grown used to for the past months.

He debated whether or not to climb back up to his room but thought better or it, finding that his friends should understand him wanting to go out and not wake them up in the morning. Though they might question why some of his clothes were scuffed up.

From inside towards the kitchen, Delia heard the door open up, a confused look on her face wondering who was entering since everyone was already here.

When seeing her son and Pikachu enter made her wonder if Ash will be sneaking out more often and thinking about it, made her smile mischievously on what the future might hold with this new habit.

Making eye contact with each other, Ash grinned a bit sheepishly before looking at his own cloths which were a little bit dirty. Pikachu sweat dropped as well knowing it a partially his fault for his some of the scorch marks in his cloths.

The mother smiled before bringing a washcloth and began to scrub the marks. In no time at all they came off.

She saw their surprised face at the ease of the cleaning. His mother explained.

"After your last little incident, I called in some favors to make these set of clothes… 'special' since you always seem to get into trouble at time. So you don't have to worry about those clothes going away anytime soon." She gave him a stern glare though. "However I don't think they will stand another Hyper Beam attack… Do you understand mister?"

Both the human and pokemon withered under her stare.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Pi Pika."

"Hey is that Ash?" Max poked his head though the kitchen entryway. Once this was said, all the heads of Ash's friends emerged looking at him strangely.

With looks asking him 'where had you been' they whisked him away onto the main chair with them surrounding him as an interrogation.

Misty was giving him the look like she used to when he did something stupid when he was ten.

_'Good times.'_ Ash thought sarcastically. Though he had to admit that he needed that constant look to get his head straight early on his journey. His eyes wandered to Professor Oak drinking coffee in the kitchen table, ignorant to what is transpiring.

"Soooo…" Ash's eyes snapped back to the group in front when one of them spoke. Their stares were starting to make him feel nervous. He wasn't the only one; static was emitting from Pikachu's fur causing small tiny pulses of electricity down his nerves whenever fur made contact with skin.

"Well Ash?" Misty said. Everyone behind her nodded feeling like it was best to let her take the lead.

Ash snorted. "Well good morning to you all too." This broke the ice a little bit causing everyone to look sheepish.

"Sorry Ash." May was the first to say. "But its that-"

"We really want to know why you have those massive-" Barry's mouth was covered by Zoey's hand. Oak had paused for a moment wondering what they were saying before going back to his coffee.

Ash and Pikachu looked at each other and sighed.

"Alright here's the deal. It was during my training for the Battle Frontier _but-"_ He called them out before they began to speak. "-it wasn't because of that training I got…. these." He hinted at the scars. "It was an accident. See me and A… my teacher were helping out some of the local pokemon. See there were two territorial ones that have moved in and the local ones needed help." Everyone saw the trainer's eyes narrow and his shoulder tensing. Pikachu also frowned and his tiny claws were digging into Ash's shoulder.

"However it became more than what my teacher expected and… was in the way when they attack. So I pushed them out of the way. And that's how I got _these_."

Ash explained as simply as he could yet that still didn't fill the curiosity of his friends.

"What attack gave you marks like that?" Gary asked not recalling any such move.

Ash and Pikachu winced fearing they would ask them this. But knowing that they would to continue to pester them it was best to simply get over with it.

"It was more of attacks really… two to be exact. And… and…."

"And what?" Misty asked getting irritated.

"They were Hyper Beams." He whispered.

"WHAT!" Everyone yelled out at the top of their lungs.

"YOU WERE HIT WITH TWO HYPER BEAMS?!" Brock yelled out loud ignoring their quite conversation they were trying to keep.

The sound of someone spitting coffee in shock came from the kitchen. Everyone turned to see Professor Oak having a coughing fit with spewed out coffee on the table.

"WHAT?!"

He immediately ran up to the trainer and began to shake Ash like he was a mad man. "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU SAYING THAT YOU TOOK TWO HYPER BEAMS?! YOU SHOULDN'T BE ALIVE MAN!" He turned to the kitchen where Ash's mom was. "Delia do you-"

"Yes I know about Ash's incident. Scott informed me as soon as he knew. So long as Ash has proper medical care and comes out alright and whole, everything is okay. Right Ash?" Delia's voice asked from her location.

"Right mom!" Ash gave a thumbs up in return. He turned to everyone. "See I'm fine. Besides, its not like I haven't been injured before."

"Pikachu." The electric type agreed reminding everyone that the electric type has indeed injured Ash in the past.

"But why did you have to take the blow?" Dawn asked shyly. She knew she sounded incentive but really why did her best friend had to be injured and not some stranger.

Ash's protective side got irritated. "Because I could handle it. Listen." He got out of Oak's grasp and stood tall in front of everyone. "My teacher was my friend and even if they weren't there is no way I will stand by and watch someone be threatened like that. Nothings going to change that right Pikachu?"

"Pipika!"

At this everyone who knew Ash and Pikachu could not argue with this and anyone who was new to this information like Barry and Zoey saw a very new side of Ash. As for Zoey, her crush for him only grew seeing how selfless he really was.

"Now." Ash said looking at everyone sternly. "Can Pikachu and I get some breakfast please?"

At this everyone laughed forgetting that meals were important to these two.

And so, our heroes were finally able to eat their meals and had a good time listening to everyone's stories on what happened during the past year or even the short time they had been separated.

* * *

Meanwhile as Ash and Pikachu and others were having fun far away or not so far away, some other familiar faces were having trouble.

A plumage of smoke could be seen in the middle of no where. A large bus surrounded by eight figures. Several of them were working around the bus while others were standing on the side doing absolutely nothing.

The air was thick with irritation.

"So the curse of the Initiation Bus really is true after all." Anabel said in disbelief. She had heard tales from the other Brains that whenever their was a battle frontier innate, the bus was always going to break down.

Now being a normally logical person she did not believe in superstition, however seeing this for herself, Anabel may just start to reconsider.

Another explosion emerged from engine and now black fumes were emerging from the bottom of the vehiclel as well. Scott and Noland had to emerge out of it, coughing and covered in grease. Brandon stood on the side looking as his usual unimpressed self.

"Oi oi oi! I never know why we take this hunk of metal during every initiation. It always breaks down and we get stuck out in the middle of no where getting stares by passing trainers until we get the dumb machine fixed." Greta groaned slapping her palm to her face/ Beside her, Lucy, Spencer, Tucker and Anabel sighed looking at the mess.

"Tis a fine mess indeed." Tucker disdainfully.

"This is why I dislike motorized travel." Spencer said who would have much preferred to travel by pokemon as it was better for nature and to some extent his own health.

Noland ignored their complaints. He grunted looking at the damage. "Geeze. At this rate we won't be able to get to Pallet Town until three days."

Three days was a new record for how late they were going to be. For Anabel's introduction into the Battle Frontier it took them a full two days, not including the day she left, to get to her own Battle Tower.

Lucy immediately addressed the problem. "Our newest member will be getting worried soon if we don't send something to tell him the problem."

Everyone turned to Anabel.

"Wait. What?"

* * *

"Hey guys want to help me show my Pokemon around the Battle Castle?" Ash asked to the rest of his friends once they were all done with the morning.

Everyone was eager to see more of the Battle Castle and helping Ash was the least they could do after putting him though that moment this morning. And so the group of humans following Ash and Pikachu to the Pokemon Sanctuary which the two had been previously.

Oak lead the way, opening the normally locked door to the area.

When walking along the path there are not many pokemon in sight, all of them preferring to keep away from busy body humans.

"How are we going to find all of Ash's Pokemon?" Max asked looking around the empty area. He knew that even with trainers it was kinda dangerous to go off out there not knowing where to go.

Ash turned and smiled. "Hey don't worry about it." He said before letting out a piercing whistle in the air. "They should be coming soon."

As soon as he said that, already a small figure came running towards him. Stubby arms wide and a gleeful grin on his face. Like any child who adored either a parent or friend, Larvitar already missed his trainer and was happy to see him again.

"Larvitar!"

Brock and Misty stood in shock at the familiar face as Ash prepared himself this time being able to barely catch the toddler and holding on to him.

Noticing the other human around him, it came to a major surprise to the Gym Leaders seeing the Rock-Skin Pokemon wave to everyone so casually.

Max and Dawn got up close with stars in their eyes. "Oh wow Ash. I never knew you had a larvitar." Dawn said petting the little pokemon who smiled. Though to the trained eye it looked like he was struggling to keep smiling. To some aspects he was still uncomfortable around humans though he was a lot better.

Brock and Misty approached the trainer with his pokemon cautiously not believing what they were seeing.

"Is that…" Misty asked eyeing the little guy.

Pikachu nodded. "Pikachu." He patted the rocky skin of Larvitar.

"Yep. This is the same guy who was with us in Johto. He found me along with his mom. Apparently he's been wanting to tag along with me during my journey so to get stronger." Ash smiled recalling the memory of Larvitar battling against the fierce Giratina. "And despite of how short of a time he's been with us, Larvitar is already really powerful. He's a great team member."

Brock looked impressed at the powerful Rock-type. "I'm impressed Ash, raising larvitars are no small job. Especially since they are very heavy sleepers and are considerably heavy for their….size…" It was then Brock noticed that Ash was holding the really really heavy pokemon in his arms. He was taken aback seeing this.

Ash smiled blissfully. "Yeah.. he is kinda heavy since last time we saw him."

"Ga? Ga?" It sounded like a pokemon was looking for someone. Hearing the sound of his friends voice, Larvitar got down from Ash's arms and called over his friend.

The Cave Pokemon grinned seeing his friend, trainer and starter and walked up to them.

Dawn, Zoey, Barry and Brock recognized this little guy as well as Ash's former gible and so Ash had to explain to the group that yes, the little mischievous gible did indeed evolve during one of his battles during his time with his teacher.

But enough talk when all of his pokemon had come ready to move over to the Battle Castle. All of them figured it would be best to stay over there while Ash was here and then move back to the Pokemon Professor's place when their trainer is off journeying.

Several of his smaller Pokemon on the back of Torterra and his other friends let out some of their pokemon to talk to their old friends in Ash's team, which seemed to please our hero's pokemon greatly.

Upon seeing the Battle Castle, the Pokemon looked on impressed at the building before following Ash and the rest of the humans inside. They were immediately lead to the very large and very nice zone of flora and landscape. Berry trees, flowers, ponds and caves for shelter during storms, it was like the VIP room for Pokemon Sanctuaries. Immediately the curiosity of all the pokemon, including pokemon from his friends, especially Piplup, made them wander around checking out the area.

Ash told him when they were done to meet him up in his study when they were done checking this place out. He needed them to help him with a survey and counting a few items that were suppose to he in stock for this place.

He grinned with Pikachu seeing the excited faces of their friends and team members search around excitedly.

They excited, however something caught Ash's sixth sense so to speak. Someone else was around his facility and he knew it wasn't his mother or Oak.

Pikachu seemed to sense it too with the electric giving Ash a blank stare.

"Pipi Kachu?"

Ash shook his head. "No, this doesn't seem like their style. Team Rocket usually goes for mechs or there some sort of strangeness going on." Still, they were stumped to what could be in here. It wasn't a pokemon either.

"Ahem... Excuse me sir."

Hearing a voice coming around the corner, Ash and Pikachu's eyes widen seeing a familiar purple haired person that they did not expect to see.

"Paul?"

End of Chapter 28.

* * *

**And you thought it was Anabel.**

**Tell me what you think.**


	29. Accommodation

**Found something that ticked me off the other day.**

**Someone made an option that Ash may be a better trainer realistically than Red. And then the comments rained down hate for Ash and the guy who posted that…**

**What is wrong with rooting for Ash? Ash is a nice guy and a good trainer.**

**Sometimes I ashamed that half of the fan base is so biased. Now that isn't to say I dislike Red. I am just indifferent to him as he is… Mr. Perfect… Yes yes I am aware of Pokemon Origins but I am still not impressed.**

**Anyway-**

**Hello!**  
**This is True-InTha-Blue!**  
**And here is another chapter for-**

**Okay I have to be honest. This was a PAIN to write. Not because I didn't enjoy it, but the fact that when I was writing everything out, I disliked where it was going. But I thought I should trudge on to see if it all worked out.**  
**It didn't. Out of what I did actually write in that chapter only 2/18th made it through this one. So I had to rewrite the whole thing which in the end was the reason I was able to produce only this chapter within the month of June.**

**For this I am sincerely sorry for.**  
**As of by the time this chapter is posted, I shall get into the mind that this is the Summer of FOSTA and I shall be trying to increase my productivity.**

**The next chapters shall indeed be more filling.**

**As always,**  
** Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 29

Accommodation

**x**

"Paul!"

Ash had his mouth open seeing his purple haired rival. What was Paul doing in Kanto? Why did Paul come to Pallet town? How did Paul know he was in Pallet Town?The Veilstone City trainer didn't seem to notice the look he was giving him. To Ash, he looked a bit uncomfortable and out of place.

"Um… This is the Battle Facility of Ash Ketchum right? …Would you happen to know where he is?" It was obvious that the guy was not use to being polite.

And Ash and Pikachu weren't sure they had heard right.  
Did… did Paul really not recognize them? The urge to facepalm was rising inside Ash and Pikachu.  
Seriously?!  
Paul… Did Paul… seriously not recognize them?!

Torn between wanting to laugh or slap some sense into his rival, Ash just stuttered.  
"Um… um… Paul… I… I am… Ash… this is Pikachu… remember… we fought in the Sinnoh League."

His Rival eyes widened, obviously now as confused as Ash. "I don't know who you are trying fool, but I know Ash Ketchum and your pathetic attempt at a disguise can't fool me. In fact this reminds me of those Team Rocket fools. You wouldn't happen to be associated with them?"

It was then Ash realized he was taller than Paul with his recent growth spurt, but then again, that was not a legitimate reason to not recognize him as Ash Ketchum. He still had his red cap, amber eyes, lighting bolt birthmarks, and Pikachu…

Luckily a savior was on his way. From around the corner of the hallway another purple haired familiar face.

"Oh. Hi Ash." Reggie said to the befuddled trainer.

Paul gave a startled look. Ash and Pikachu let out a sigh of relief. "Oh… Hey Reggie… Reggie?"

"Pikaka?"

"Okay what are you guys doing here?!" He asked them, wondering how on earth to find him at this time.

Reggie smiled ruffling the hair of his shocked brother. "Brandon us pointed to this direction. Gave us a call and told us about a brand new Frontier Brain and when he said it was you then of course, my little brother just had to see it for his own eyes."

Paul still couldn't believe his eyes. "Are you saying this faker is… Ash…?"

Ash and Pikachu mimicked their actions pointing to themselves. "That's what we've been trying to tell you."

"Pikachu…" Even the Mouse Pokemon was unamused by this, because even though Ash had changed Pikachu was still the same…

"Pika…" He was staring at Paul with a blank beady stare in disbelief.

"Oh…" For a moment almost Ash pitied the Veilstone trainer, knowing what it felt like to be out of your place and feel like a fool. "Wait- what happened?"

Ash shrugged. "Hey I left Sinnoh nearly three months ago. I… I kinda grew up a bit. Pikachu too."

"Pi."

Paul didn't seem to believe this. "Grew up…"

The sound of other foot steps were coming from behind Ash, from the Pokemon Courtyard. Peering over his shoulder, Ash saw it was his friends but with Dawn, Zoey, Barry and Brock pausing a little seeing who was also with Ash, letting an exclamation of 'PAUL?' along the way.

Said Paul seemed to regain his cold persona, only nodded and grunted in acknowledgement. Reggie however waved cheerfully at them.

"Didn't know you were so popular here Paul."

"…I'm not…" Paul mumbled which no one heard.

"What is he doing here?" Misty asked eyeing the trainer with distaste. Even though Brock had told her that Paul and Ash parted on respectful terms after the battle, she still didn't think he should be let off on how he treated pokemon in the past.

"None of your business." Paul shrugged her off. This only served to make the Water Type Gym Leader further ticked off at him.

Ash turned and shrugged. "Apparently Brandon told them about me becoming a Frontier Brain."

This intrigued everyone and Reggie took time to explain that he was once a Battle Frontier participant and though he managed to get six of the seven symbols, however never attained the last one. Also Paul tried to challenge Brandon and for some reason this made the Pyramid King contact them to tell them about the newest edition of the Battle Frontier, especially since this one is the rival of Paul.

Everyone looked at Paul still wondering why the anti-social trainer was here. To come out all way out here was… suspicious.

Paul turned indifferently towards the crowd. "Hmph. I'll wait till there is a better time without these losers cramping my space. Reggie, I'll be around." With that, Paul left, leaving everyone staring where he left off.

Reggie sweat dropped at the typical rudeness of his little brother. "Ah… sorry about that.."

Ash crossed his arms. "So Reggie why did you guys come all the way here? It's not like Kanto and Sinnoh are next door neighbors like Johto is… So that must have been some trip."

Dawn nodded. "Yeah its not easy."

Reggie shrugged. "That's something Paul is going to tell you. He would be awfully miffed if I did. And I would prefer to keep my little bro in a good mood that is in now."

Max rose an eyebrow at this. "That's a good mood?"

Reggie just grinned.

* * *

His friends were giving Reggie the grand tour, Ash sat in a muddled mood in his office.

'_Office…'_ That word sounded strange to him. This was something associated with an adult, not a kid like him.

He was growing up and a part of him was scared of that. Scared of that unknown aspect and who he might become.

Out of habit, he started to pet Pikachu to ease his worries.

"Pika…"

When he was ten, the thought of growing up didn't cross his mind much, subconsciously he thought he would be ten forever. But that wasn't true, here he was, almost fifteen years old and about to get his first job.

Another part of him that was worried was that he wouldn't do a good job at that. He wanted to make his mom, Scott, Anabel and the rest of the Frontier Brains proud and his fear came through that he wouldn't.

This job, of helping other trainers get strong, both through winning and losing was important to Ash. Now it wasn't just about him and his journey but about others.

It was then Ash realized that he had switched places on the Battle Field. From the side of the challenger, now he was on the other side of the challenge.

It gave him the responsibility to help bridge the gap between human and pokemon and to show his views easier and now he had the title to back it up.

But then Ash remembered something. He wasn't alone growing up. He had his friends and others to rely on and help him out. That brought a grin to the trainers face. He would be okay.

But now he scowled remembering something else for his surliness. How on earth did Paul not recognize him? Did he change them much?

Then again… he wasn't himself in Sinnoh was he? Paul only saw the weak and unsure Ash Ketchum… not his true self.

"I'm going to have to correct that." He said leaning back on his chair.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked confused.

"Oh… I'm just wondering how Paul didn't recognize us."

The electric type rolled his eyes. "Pika-chu pi."

This caused the trainer to grin. "Yeah you're right. Guess even the mighty and stoic Paul has his moments. That guy needs to lighten up some more."

Pikachu hopped on his shoulder nudging him forward. "Pikachu?"

"Yeah let's."

* * *

Meanwhile…

"Color me impressed guys. I did not expect Ash to go this direction in his life." Reggie said as he and the group walked through the corridors.

Everyone had to agree with him. From the Ash they knew, it was like some outside force had something to do with Ash becoming a Frontier Brain.

"Your right. Ash doesn't seem like the type of guy who is down to simply be tied down to such a big responsibility." Tracy said.

"Maybe he is being mind controlled." Suggested Barry. Everyone looked at him strangely. "Um… never mind." Barry said sweat dropping.

May's eyes started to gleam. "You know once you think about it, It's really impressive for Ash to get this far."

Max nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. Makes me want to challenge the Battle Frontier when I get older."

Barry slugged an arm around the younger kids shoulder. "You and me both! Though I think I'll try to take my dad down first before I try anything."

Hearing that Barry's dad was a Frontier Brain, launched Max into a barrage of questions for the Empoleon trainer.

May smiled glad her little brother was finding older trainers to help him along his way. "You know I wonder if I could have Max visit Ash while I go around Kanto for the conferences. I think it would help him greatly."

Dawn smiled. "Hey that's not a too bad of an idea. Plus maybe we could invite him to the Vermillion conference, y'know after showing him some moves."

"Piplup." The penguin pokemon agreed.

Zoey got between the two. "Hey you two don't go so far. I might ask him myself."

Misty who had been listening all alone turned to them, and at first the three thought she was going into her angry mode but was surprised to see her give them a wink. "You know I might just try some contest myself since the Kanto League is off. Who knows, maybe the 'Sensational Sisters' blood might run through me."

The girls giggled together.

* * *

And so everyone caught up and the last place of the Battle Castle was yet to be shown. It was the Pokemon Courtyard and what they did not expect was the sound of Pokemon moves sounding through the door.

The group ended up going through to see what was going on and they stood agape watching when they saw Ash punching his Heracross who in turned rammed him with a focus punch.

Ash was then flung across the ground with his back skidding across the grass. He ended up near his friends feet. Opening his eyes he grinned.

"Hey guys."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"  
"WHY ARE YOU HITTING YOUR POKEMON?"  
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?"

These were the common outburst Ash heard as he got up.

_'I really should have expected this.' _Ash thought.

"Training. Right Heracross?" He asked his pokemon who looked just fine. Through his claws, the bug/fighting type gave a thumbs up. "Hera!"

Brock still couldn't believe it. "But why are _you _fighting him?"

Ash shrugged. "During my training, I discovered that getting more involved with you pokemon's training is a really good things for everyone involved. I've been doing this for sometime now."

They looked like him like he was crazy. "Ash you're not a pokemon you know." Misty said with a tinge of anger in her voice.

The trainer was unaffected by her accusation. "I know this, I am their trainer and AS their trainer, I need to step in to know what they are going through. Also I told you guys. My pokemon are not the only ones who get stronger. And give these guys from faith. My pokemon have been training with me for over two months, they know my limits and now because I am training with them, I have such better understanding on what they are and what they can do and what to push forward."

He seemed excited and on edge saying this. You could see the boundless energy in Ash as he bounced from foot to foot.

His body had scuff marks on him and his clothes with a little bit dirty.

Seeing no response from his friends, Ash decided to go back and you could see the change in him. You could see his confidence in his abilities when he commanded his pokemon with ease to get into positions and order them to work on a certain technique. His pokemon followed his orders to the letter, easily understanding them including Gabite who those who traveled in Sinnoh with Ash knew that wasn't the brightest.

Right now, Ash was teamed up with Noctowl working in Torterra and Infernape.

Pikachu had spotted his humans friends and waved his stubby little arm towards them. He bounded towards them and began to speak with them in order to ask them how they were doing.

You could see in their eyes their attempts to understand him and so the Mouse pokemon's eyes drooped down. Right, he had forgotten he was no longer in a place where humans could understand him.

So, going back to his old method, he leaped in the nearest humans arms and gave everyone a nudge in affection, careful not to touch his cheeks with them.

Misty smiled when he landed in her arms. "It's good to see you again Pikachu. I hope Ash hasn't been pushing you too hard."

Pikachu shook his head.

"I wonder why Ash suddenly choose to train his pokemon this way?" Reggie mused to himself. Not that he was condoning Ash's new method. In fact he was intrigued on how this trainer, the trainer who was decent in Sinnoh, became so competent?

However he had to smile seeing the young boy so at ease as he weaved his way through attacks battling his own pokemon. So this was the kid that Brandon was proud of.

But from what he could tell, Brandon didn't teach this kid. Someone else did, someone who was strong but seemed to be reach this kids heart.

However it was Max who went up to Ash first not realizing that this situation was dangerous for the inexperienced. Dangerous enough that a stray Energy Ball had gotten loose and it was heading towards to the kid. Immediately before the green orb hit, Max felt his body being grabbed, crushed against someone and proceeded to be flung a good two meters on the ground. However he did not skid on the ground, but the person underneath certainly must have had his back raw from how far they moved.

"Max are you alright?!" Max heard the worry in his sister's voice but he was slow to move to stand up, him still dazed to the events that were too fast for him to comprehend.

Turning around, he saw Ash getting looking just fine, but his face was also filled with worry. "Hey are you okay?" He asked the kid.

Max nodded dumbly, still couldn't wrap his head around.

Instantly he was hugged by his older sister before she started to scold him. "Max what were you thinking?"

Before the young boy would open his mouth, Ash came to his rescue. "Hey don't blame the kid May. He was just curious. It's my fault I didn't notice sooner."

His torterra came up looking despondent and ashamed. "Torterra…" It sounded like he was apologizing as he shuffled his feet. Ash put a comforting hand on his grass type.

"He and I are both really sorry about that." Ash looked down.

"it's… alright Ash. Max is safe… and you rescued him." May said.

Dawn nodded. "Yeah and we know that Torterra would never harm anyone." Everyone nodded.

"I'm impressed Ash. How fast you were able to move. I honestly didn't see it coming." Gary said looking his usual way.  
Ash grinned sheepishly, remembering a similar and more dangerous situation. However luckily he was able to detect it faster.

May looked down on Max. "Yet Max still has something to say."

Max looked shy. "Sorry I got in the way… I just wanted to see how you are training." He mumbled.

Ash just grinned. "Hey that's okay." He smacked his forehead. "That's right you're an official trainer now aren't ya?" His amber eyes seemed to glow with excitement.

And that excitement seemed to Baton Pass on to the younger trainer. "Yeah! I'm really looking forward to challenging the Kanto League."

"Then how about I help ya?" The proposition was too good for Max who let out a squeak of excitement.

"Ash are you sure?" Misty asked unsure.

Ash grinned. "Hey this is a part of my job. Best get it as much experience as possible. And don't worry, I won't use my new method. We're just going to use basics."

Brock placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Ash does have some experience in teaching beginners. He helped with May and Dawn."

Said two girls nodded.

This was news to Tracy, Zoey, Barry and Gary though.

"Didn't know Ash had helped those two." Zoey said, wondering how the trainer could help coordinators.

Gary smirked. "I guess becoming a Frontier Brain wasn't a bad choice after all."

Ash grunted. "Hey I take offense to that." He said glaring at his friend. And now the best part was he was the around the same height. How good that felt!

With that said Ash along with Max walked deeper in the forest.

Reggie once again merely grinned. "Looks like my little brother is going to have a tougher challenger this time around." He said mysteriously.  
Everyone looked at him strangely.

It was then that Zoey turned to her fellow coordinators. "I didn't know Ash helped you guys out."

The girls only grinned. "Yeah he did help us out to get us up on our feet." May said.

"But he is not really a coordinator." Dawn finished.

While Zoey had to agree. "Still that kid has some skills as one." This caught Misty's attention, think how to strategizing on how she could get Ash interested.

Brock seemed satisfied with what was going on. Maybe… Ash will be alright… but there was still a tinge of doubt.

He needed to talk to someone. So he bid the group farewell for now, as the rest of the boys went off to handle their own pokemon in the courtyard. Brock headed directly towards the Ketchum household, the perfect person was there to answer his questions.

Briefly he squinted (further) noticing that the sky was now overcast. It might rain soon.

He went in instantly as Delia knew none of them were strangers and welcomed everyone in her house. There she was knitting a rather complex piece of clothing and Mr. Mime was busy in the kitchen working on some type of food for lunch.

Without him speaking and without looking up, Delia greeted him. And then in the back of his mind the former Rock Gym leader wondered how did she know it was him.  
What he didn't know is that while not really invested in her family heritage, she picked up some tricks that will come in handy.

"How was the tour?" She asked when he sat down in front of her.

Brock smiled. "Really good. Its really impressive to see such a sight in Pallet town. Ash sure does have a big responsibility you know."

Delia merely nodded. So Brock decided to push his point forward. "Listen Ms. Ketchum, I don't think Ash can handle this."

Delia didn't react still working away on her project. "And what makes you think that?"

Brock sighed. "I traveled with Ash for nearly four years and I know Ash, and no offense, isn't really good at handling big projects. He's a good trainer yes, but with other matters he's-"

"Not the best at handling these things?" Delia's voice was calm and she was not judging Brock. And a few months ago, she would have agreed with the dark skinned boy. "Yes. That is true, once upon a time."

"What do you mean?" He asked thrown off by her wording.

This time she looked in his eyes, putting aside her work. "What I mean is, you don't know what happened during those months he was training with the Battle Frontier."

"And you do?" Brock didn't mean to sound rude but he just blurted it out.

The woman nodded smiling, thinking how much her son has grown. "Yes. For the year he spent in Sinnoh, Ash was lacking something. And he needed someone different, and a different situation to fill a hole in his heart. He needed his spirit renewed and he needed to be shown a different side of the world. And, I have seen with my own eyes when I looked into his. And when it was the last time you looked into them?"

He cast her a confused look. "His what?"

"His eyes. They're intimidating are they?"

Now that the dark skinned boy thought about it. He hadn't really stared into the boys eyes. Something about them were unnerving.

Thunder crashed outside and the sound of curtains of rain pouring down on the earth came right after that.

Delia seeing the gears turning in his head continued. "When I saw him after awhile, I could tell he had been through a lot and that he was indeed to take on his new responsibility. Now you might not be able to accept that my little Ashy is heading into a new direction, but sometimes you need to let the ones you care about go. I should know."

It was then that Brock was in the middle of understanding what she said but needed to see it for himself. He also didn't say anything after hearing that last part sensing that this was a sensitive topic for the kind lady.

Delia then smiled. "Now with that said, you would help me and Mimey with lunch? We have a tall order to fill out."

Brock agreed. He needed to be distracted and collect his thoughts.

* * *

_Earlier..._

"Alright. Show me who you have." Ash asked with Pikachu on his side. The electric type wanted to see how Max was doing.

Max nodded with enthusiasm before throwing all his poke'balls in the air.

Out came was a ralts, treecko, shroomish, mightyena, and shuppet. Five pokemon in total.

Ash had to admit, the kid works fast. What he didn't realize that going on a journey with a trainer before you become one helps a lot.

To give Ash credit though, he recognized that all these pokemon were ones that Max met on his journey sans the treecko. He smiled. "Looks like you hooked up with some friends. Awesome."

Max beamed along with the rest of his pokemon. However, the treecko turned away from them, arms crossed an unimpressed.

Max looked on worriedly at the grass type. Obviously the kid hadn't earned its respect.

Ash grinned at Pikachu who grinned back, remembering their own tough-as-nails treecko now a powerhouse Sceptile.  
Speaking of which, they could feel the Forest Pokemon watching them from afar seeing how this will play out.

"So have these guys battled under you guide before?" The older trainer asked.

The bespectacled kid turned back to his friend. "Kinda… Some wild Pokemon were challenged us, and that went well… however-" He frowned. "My first battle was with May… and… I kinda got crushed."

That explained the treecko's behavior.

Ash shrugged. "That happens at times. However, May should have known better than to go full out on a beginner."

Max looked down a bit depressed. "Yeah." Ralts offered a comforting hand to his trainer. The rest of the pokemon didn't know what to do.

"Pikachu." Pikachu urged the other pokemon forward telling them to comfort their trainer. And slowly they started to surround the boy starting to understand how he was feeling.

"Well then… good thing you came to me because this is my job now!" Ash said with excitement.

"What?"

Ash explained as a Frontier Brain (even though he wasn't official yet) that one of the many parts of his job involved helping trainers both new and experienced to get them to bond with their pokemon and get stronger through teamwork and trust.

Max was very impressed. "Wow. So you are basically a teacher."

Ash rubbed that back of his sheepishly. "Well kinda. All my experience comes from my own teacher so I am still all kinda new to this. As long as you're patient with me, I'll try my best."

Pikachu then proceeded to get on his shoulder. "Pika pika." Was his way to boost confidence.

"What do we do first?" The boy asked now really excited. This spread to his pokemon as well, they bounding around and looking at Ash with respect.

To their eyes, and as they were less experienced with humans, they kinda viewed the boy as a powerful pokemon.

However there was still that stubborn treecko, who started to get irritated by the happy-go-lucky group.

"Sce." Sceptile grinned seeing the little punk. Reminded him of when he was younger, however by the time he joined his human the boy already earned his respect. However, the boy with glass on his eyes had a good heart. Looks like this young one is going to learn a lesson.

Ash worked out the best method in his mind. "Alright, first… we need your whole team to cooperate." So he walked up to the treecko smiling. "Hey how about joining us?"

The treeko grunted in irritation and swung around to use Pound on the annoying trainers face.

What the grass type did not expect was the human dodging the attack and grabbing him by his tail making Treecko hung helplessly by the trainer's grasp.

"That's what I though." Ash said looking at pikachu. Both looked unimpressed with the behavior this pokemon had.

Ash placed the Tree Gecko pokemon right in front of Max with a glare that frozen the pokemon in place, and not to try any funny business.

"So Max, have you tried anything to regain your Pokemon's respect?" Ash asked.

Max nodded and explained that he tried being kind to it, inviting it to meals and Poke'blocks but nothing he tried seemed to work.

"Well then. You gotta be strong." He said. Max tilted his head confused. "What I mean is that you need to show Treecko here is that you are a serious trainer." He stared at the boy. "You are a serious trainer, aren't you Max?"

"Of course! I want to be strong enough to take you down one day." The boys fist pumped and you could sense his determination. Though, while the kid was determined for his age, it paled in comparison to the burning inferno that would come with years of trial experience.

So how to show a stubborn pokemon a trainer is strong? Well, the best way was to make Max battle against the treecko again. However… said treecko was uncooperative.

"I don't want to provoke him into attacking." Max said to Ash.

_'Hmmmmm…'_ Ash and Pikachu simultaneously got into thinking position. Both of them were rummaging through all their lessons on how to deal with this.

It was the signal for Sceptile to step in, showing up quickly from the trees.

He startled the other pokemon and humans to varying degrees.  
Recognizing who it was, Max waved to the Forest Pokemon. The pokemon smirked, also familiar with the boy he traveled with. Now on to his trainer. "Scep." He motioned to his trainer, gesturing to the startled treecko.

Looking back and forth, Ash noticed the similarities to Sceptile and Max's Treecko. "Go ahead. Just restrain yourself okay?"

The grass type grinned flicking the twig in his mouth. With a casual stance he turned to the treecko who in turned glared at him. As Sceptile thought, this little guy was from the same tree he had come from. And to this day, he never regretted going off with his trainer.

But it seemed this little guy was starting to have regrets.

We'll just have to fix that.

Sceptile started to start talking to the treecko in which the humans could tell that the latter was getting angrier and angrier. You could tell that the older pokemon was taunting his pre-evolved form.

It got to the point where the treecko started to relentlessly attack Sceptile who dodged or deflected every attack. It didn't even take Battle Frontier Training to need to speed that was naturally inherent into this pokemon.

It got to the point where the Tree Gecko Pokemon was out of breath and exhausted.

He was still glaring at the evolved form of him. And so the sceptile started to launch into a boast on how strong his trainer was, and that its a shame that the little one wouldn't give his own trainer a chance. Pikachu saw what was going on.

Sceptile was giving the Treecko a reason to get stronger through training with his human.

Finally when he was done, it seemed that something struck clear point to treecko. The reason why this Sceptile who was once a treecko from the same tree as he was so strong was because of training under a human.

So… maybe he would give his trainer one more chance.

"So Max. I want you to pit shroomish against treecko. Sometimes you need to learn to respect others the hard way." Ash whispered the last part, remembering his trials with Charizard and even Pikachu.

Max nodded. "Ready Shroomish?"

"Shrrooo!" The Mushroom pokemon with the ribbon replied.

Treecko smirked arrogantly before proceeding to use agility to disappear.

"Keep calm Max." Ash called out to the boy who looked around frantically.

"Right. Shroomish, stay calm and expect an attack." Following his trainers orders though still worried the grass type braced itself for the inevitable action.

Treecko appeared soon after, swinging his tail for Pound.  
"Venoshock!" Max called out and as expected, this took a toll on the treecko. What was surprising is that this move alone caused the grass type to faint right away.

And as Sceptile thought, the little punk had refused to train with his human while the other pokemon on the boy's team grew stronger. That should teach him.  
He noticed Ash and Pikachu smiling at him. "Maybe you should be teaching the trainers instead of me." He joked.

The Forest Pokemon waved off the jest.

They watched as Max held Treecko in his arms, saying that he will take care of him. It would take a while but with this defeat in mind, the kid should have an easier time bonding with treecko now. With that lesson learned, Ash took Max off to the healing bay.

As for safety and trying to be polite, Ash brought over Reggie who was standing alone observing Ash's pokemon. He called over to Paul's older brother to help heal Treecko.

Once in the healing bay, the grass type was gently recovering in the glass pod.

"Thanks for helping us out with the more complicated procedures." Ash thanked Reggie.

"No problem. It's nice to be able to work with these machines. We don't have that in Veilstone. Makes me glad I took that internship with a pokemon center after I stopped being a trainer."

Ash nodded though he frowned a bit when he heard the last part. Reggie noticed this and was quick to fix it.

"Don't worry about it. I don't regret my choice. I find more meaning in my life healing other pokemon." He smirked though. "I have to say though, it is still a refreshing burn to get back into the battlefield."

"Pi pika." The electric mouse pokemon agreed.

"A burn?" Max asked showing that he had been listening in despite of his constant gaze on treecko.

Both older guys grinned knowingly. "Well… it takes a while after you began your journey as a trainer however there is something common between all trainers that coordinators or any other pokemon profession has." Reggie said.

Max was lost. "And that is?"

Ash answered. "Well, your blood starts to boil."

Comically, Max started to freak out, the sound of his blood boiling sounded very unappealing to his young ears.

So the two explained that it was a figure of speech, that it was merely a way to describe the rush of battle they feel. Subconsciously, they knew it might take a while for May's brother to finally understand it and experience it for himself.

Eventually Treecko got better and eventually begrudgingly, allowed Max to train him, seeing the gap in his power and the rest of the boy's team.

Max then thanked Ash profusely and rushed off with his pokemon to thanks Sceptile as well.

"I'm guessing you will need to find someone like a secretary soon." Reggie said to Ash as they were walking back.

"Yeah…" Ash thinking of Maron and the other Frontier Brain's helpers. He would need someone to handle some other details to the work, since Ash couldn't do it alone. But who to help out… Tracy?… The guy didn't really seem to be up for the job since he was working with Professor Oak. And he didn't really think that anyone else in the town would know what trainers would need.

But guess he would ask Scott about it when he got here.

"Thinking about why Paul's here?" Reggie asked noticing the determined thinking Ash was doing.

Ash was about to say no, but now registering what he said, he _should_ be thinking why rival was here.

By what he was picking up from the older guy that he really wanted the boy to go out on his own to see what's up.

The best way to solve problems were to confront them head on.

With that the brother left Ash at splitting pathways. One leading back to the courtyard and the one leading to the doors outside.

As always, Ash turned to his buddy for his opinion. The pokemon nodded, believing it would best to get it over with.

Outside the clouds had become overcast and you could smell the rain in the air waiting to unleash themselves to those below. This set the mood for his melancholy.

A soft little nudge on his cheek, the black eyes of Pikachu stared into his, "Pika-a?"

Ash smiled, rubbing his starters head. "Thanks buddy." Instantly he felt better.

"So I still see that is still the same." A stern voice came from ahead.  
Ash and Pikachu saw Paul hanging out on a nearby tent, fire and an over cover for the upcoming rain. Paul was sitting on a log, roasting something over the fire.

As usual he looked unimpressed but he seemed to be more comfortable here than back with the group. Probably because he landed himself in an awkward situation.

Ash and Pikachu grinned brightly, showing their dopy selves. "Hey. I haven't completely changed."

Surprisingly Paul let out a smirk. It wasn't his normal arrogant smirk he used when he was trying to be superior to someone, but more of a smirk of humor. He turned back to Ash. "You really have changed y'know?"

This, the trainer and the pikachu agreed. "Yeah. That thing kinda happens. You've changed too Paul."

Saying this shocked the Sinnoh trainer. He did not expect this. "I have?"

Ash and Pikachu smiled. "Ain't it obvious? You're a nicer person." At this Paul "tch'd" and it seemed like he didn't believe what the Pallet Town trainer was saying, probably calling him a fool in his mind.

And yet Ash kept on smiling, somehow knowing that the once upon-a-time cruel trainer was now nicer to his pokemon and probably people and general. The only real reason why he acted like a jerk back there was because his friends didn't know how to react to his rival and the guy was caught off guard. Who could blame him?

Well a lot of people could but we know Ash is a nice guy.

A crack of thunder shot through the sky, startling the wild pokemon and letting everyone know that rain was soon to come.

"So what are you here for?" Ash asked once the noise died down.

"You seriously don't know?" Paul asked unimpressed at his rival's lack of foresight. Or his general denseness.

Hearing the contempt tone, Ash wasn't taking any of that. "Hey I have been filling my head with stupid paper forms. Frankly I have been over thinking waaay too much. So… just tell me."

Paul looked carefully at Ash, some part of him still not believing that this was the trainer he fought in the Sinnoh League.

"Alright then, since you insist." He stood up looking directly in his rivals eyes.

"It's been haunting me since you defeated me in the leagues. Though it was a good battle I felt like something was hidden from me. Something wasn't right. And this feeling has not left me since. And I know the one that can rid it from me. And what's worse… I find my rival seemingly abandoning his journey as a trainer and his dream to become the so called Pokemon master. " Paul's voice had suddenly taken a bitter edge.

The two trainers starred off, the air was thick and heavy in the air.

"I challenge you to a pokemon battle to still see if you are the Ash Ketchum I have battled in the past." Paul said calmly but his voice echoed in the air and seemed to make the rainfall come down on Ash and the rest of the area.

It was then clear that Paul was loosing faith in himself if Ash was losing faith in his ability as a trainer. To him, becoming someone like Brandon and forgoing the path of a trainer was a wrong against the Veilstone City resident. An insult almost.

While Paul stayed dry under his cover, he watched Ash and Pikachu stand there in the rain. Ash's eyes were covered by his cap while Pikachu stood still on his shoulder waiting for his trainer's actions.

"Uh…. I… I can see that." Ash said after a while. His clothes were completely soaked along with Pikachu but the two didn't seem to mind.

"You know… I kinda had that same feeling as well. And… I couldn't live with ... for a while, I don't know when it happened, but I was kinda half baked inside. Not completely myself... or at least I wasn't pushing myself forward. I was lost and didn't really have a place to go. I found… I needed to approach my life differently. The Battle Frontier offered me that…"

He paused for seconded as a bolt of lightning illuminated the sky.

He spoke again.

"However, how I thought the Battle Frontier were going to train me… was not how I expected. A lot of things happened which I found that I would have never found on my own. But that isn't to say I gave up on my dream. I'm still a trainer and I will still be going to region to region to meet new trainers and Pokemon alike. I'm just also balancing this with it. For now this whole organization and all the people that are a part of is now a part of my heart. And I have to say, because of that am I different from the trainer in Sinnoh. So that leads to battling…"

Another flash of lighting and a clap of thunder once again struck. This time Ash revealed his eyes along with a feral grin on his face, hands clenched and his body looking like he was about to lurch forward, Pikachu mimicking the action and sparks emitting from his cheeks and trailing down Ash's arms; the trainer completely unaffected. Paul actually took a step back, intimidated by the sudden change of demeanor. This was not the trainer he battled during the Lilly of the Valley conference. Looking into the amber eyes was like looking into the eyes of a pokemon.

Ash continued speaking. "I accept your challenge as Ash of the Battle Frontier! However… I assure you that this one won't be like the one in Sinnoh! You better come prepared Paul because Pikachu and I are going to come after you, and even if I lose, you will not forget this!"

Though he wasn't sure to believe those words, Paul was satisfiedd with that answer. "Okay then."

* * *

The trainers' promise in the forest, Brock left the Ketchum household to gather the rest of the group from the Battle Caste. Lunch was being served after all. On the opposite side of town around the area of Route 1 was a disgruntled and somewhat irritated Salon Maiden trudging through the foliage.

It was a funny story on how she ended up walking through the dense greenery on a rainy day. Well not 'Ha Ha' funny and if it was 'Ha Ha' funny to you, this lady would probably sock you with the fist she used to break a certain trainer's nose. This time she wouldn't regret it.

Due to the bus breaking down, it was a quick decision made by all the Frontier Brains, and Scott, to send Anabel on her merry way towards Pallet Town on her Togekiss to let Ash know that it might take awhile for the rest of the group to get there. However what was not expected was the sudden rainstorm that came out of literally from nowhere.

Being the good girl she was, Anabel decided it was best for her to go on her own trek and keep her flying type safe in the Poke'ball. Now it wouldn't be all that bad if it wasn't for her getting lost.

Now rarely did Anabel call pokemon a rude name, but that that Fearow was indeed a JERK! First it gave her the wrong directions to Pallet Town and then it tried to ambush her with a pack of Spearow and itself.

Espeon was more than enough to take that blasted big bird down and just when she was about to take on the rest, a Pidgeot with a flock of pidgey came to her aid. It was then she got the right directions from the lead bird and after thirty minutes in the rain in total she was able to find Pallet Town over the the horizon.

A sigh of relief escaped her, finally glad that she found her destination and that there will be dry shelter from the rain.

So with a begrudging grin she continued on the way. She had to admit, despite of the rain and gloomy clouds, Pallet was a very homey place. Very quiet and seems like it would be the type of place that would be completely unaffected by the passage of time and events throughout the region.

Many a house, were shut off completely for the weather. Her eyes were so completely focused on finding a place to duck from the rain that she did not notice the recent towering structure that was new to this town.

Do to lack of insight on her part. Anabel did not know where Ash's house was and realized that they did not have a pokemon center either.

Squinting she was able to locate what looked like a group of people, mostly kids around her age. So using that logic, it would be possible that they might let her in if it was a community gathering.

Summoning up her courage, Anabel headed on over there and proceeded to knock on the door.

A gentle eyed, brown haired woman opened the door. Surprised to tree a slip of a girl; soaking wet on her door step.

Before the Salon Maiden could even open her mouth to request for shelter, the woman whisked her in immediately applying soft drying towels to her in some small attempt to dry of her off.

"Ummm… thank you…" Anabel was more or less bamboozled by the sudden onslaught of care she had just received.

The woman just smiled. "Oh you're welcome dear. I hope you don't catch a cold from being out in the rain so long. What were do you doing out there?" The girl looked old enough to take care of herself but at the same time, her motherly instinct just couldn't sit there at let the girl get completely wet. Stranger or not.

"Well… I'm looking for someone here actually. Don't suppose you know of one Ash Ketchum do you?" Anabel asked.

Instantly the woman smiled. "Of course I do. I am his mother after all."

The red of embarrassment covered Anabel's face as she bowed politely in order to make up for her ruddiness of barging in.

Delia however would have none of that. "Now listen here, there is no need to apologize for receiving hospitality. Especially for the girl my little man likes." This time a different hue of red came on her face.

Ash's mother was a very observant woman.

"It's very nice to meet you though." Anabel said this time bowing slightly in respect. "I hope that we may be able to converse with each other. However I need to deliver my message to Ash as soon as possible. Do you have any idea where he might be?"

Delia pointed towards further in the house. It was then Anabel heard the voices of numerous of people and the clanking of utensils. Everyone must have been at a late lunch. And where ever good was, that's where the trainer she was looking for was bound to be.

Drying herself a little bit more and making sure she didn't look like a total wreck she decided to head for the entry way.

Sitting there was all of Ash's friends plus Reggie and Paul who even the stoic trainer couldn't say no to a homemade meal from the rain.

Immediately Pikachu noticed her and began to tug on Ash. Once she saw the familiar amber eyes meet hers, he shot up like a bullet exclaiming her name.

The group turned to the unfamiliar purple haired girl who looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"Hello to you too Ash." Anabel said always amused by his strong reactions.

End of Chapter 29

* * *

**Yeah so that was a thing.**  
**And also.**  
**THERE ARE SO MANY FREAKING CHARACTERS TO KEEP TRACK OF!**

**AAHHHhhhhhhhhhh... (wimpers)**

**I really hope I was able to keep everyone in focus to their personalities. And I really really hope that you guys are okay with this relatively small chapter.**

**ON TO FREAKING CHAPTER 30!**


	30. The Other Side of the Battle Field: I

**I have a question for you folks.****What would you like for me to use as a social media website.  
****Also remember I have a twitter of (at symbol)BlueSpinda.**

**Hello this is True-InTha-Blue **

**To my american readers:  
Happy Late 4th of the July  
To my readers from other countries I hope you had a great day!  
I am so happy I got this chapter out as soon as I did.  
This is also short but... oh well.  
Sorry but I did what I could.  
Also I had a real fun time watching the Pokemon Nationals this weekend. Super fun.  
**

**Now a few Shout outs.  
Like always check out Younger P's stuff as it is great. Seriously he needs more reviews and love  
**

**Next up is a super duper one!  
Thank you _RubberLotusShipper_  
For being my Pokemon Beta Reader and editing my first chapter of this story.  
It looks fantastic and so much better than I ever could.  
I will be updating that chapter with RubberLotusShipper's edits and I hope you all enjoy it because this guy is staying in my books  
and I hope he will edit the other chapters and fix my appalling grammar and spelling.  
As always**

Enjoy the chapter

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 30

The Other Side of the Battle Field Prt I

x

"Nice to see you too Ash."  
There was silence in the room for the unfamiliar girl seemed to recognize Ash and vise versa, it wasn't until Max called out did bells go off in others heads.

"Wait! Your Anabel right?" The boy called out recognizing the girl that was part of Ash's Battle Frontier journey.

Like a click, May and Brock also recognized the purple haired girl and they smiled remembering she was a kind hearted girl that Ash and the rest of them befriended.

Anabel merely smiled. "The Salon Maiden Anabel at your service." She offered a slight playful bow. "Nice to see you again Max." The boy let out a happy squeak seeing that she recognized him.

Ash and Pikachu however were more concerned with current matters, getting up to her ignoring the stares his friends gave him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked abruptly with Pikachu voicing concern as well. It was then both boys noticed something. "And… why are you wet?"

Inwardly the concern was making her heart warm enough to warm herself even though she went through rain. "Well… have you seen outside?" She joked.

Ash didn't get it. "It's raining but that's not what I mean." Same old Ash.

She rolled her eyes smiling. " I have a message for you, but can I please sit down?" Her voice took on a humorous yet tired edge. You could tell she had a rough trip over here.

It was Misty who offered a seat next to her. "Here sit over here, but if you don't mind me asking how do you know Ash?"

Ash answered this. "I met her during my Battle Frontier challenge and we became friends. And… and she is my teacher that is helping me become a Frontier Brain."

So this girl was the mysterious teacher that Ash credited to helping him become this way. However Anabel looked nothing like this wild Ash who emanated confidence. She was more subtle and didn't seem all that dangerous.

However one person was acting like she was indeed that dangerous person. And unfortunately for him, she noticed. "Reggie is that you?" Anabel asked seeing the older boy sitting across the table.

Reggie waved nervously. "H-hi Anabel." A single drop of sweat appeared on his brow.

Paul noticed his brothers abnormal behavior. "What's wrong with you?" Never had he seen his brother act this way.

This time Anabel smirked and then everyone could tell that this lady had more to her than at first glance. "You're still not over those matches yet? Reggie it's been a nearly two years, I'm sure you're a lot stronger now." While she did sound honest, there was a hint of a inside joke to it.

Ash looked back and forth between them and remembering why Reggie couldn't win against Brandon was because he didn't have his own style. So… how did he fare against number six, the one before Brandon, of the Battle Frontier? Judging by his reacting, not very well though he must have won eventually… Just not with out difficulty.

"Let me guess, you caught her on a bad day didn't you?"

Reggie had the dark haze of a bad memory on him. "Yeah… apparently some of the Battle contestants were not being respectful to their pokemon… she had to deal with all of them and… I showed up for a challenge."

Anabel frowned. "I am sorry I took my anger out on you. It was not professional of me."

Paul still didn't believe his brother and simply didn't give her the time of day. A cool gaze came over purple eyes when she stared at him, tucking in his behavior in the back of his mind.

"So you were helping Ash all this time he was gone?" May asked, remembering the power that this girl showed.

Anabel and Ash nodded. "Yep. So Anabel what is this message?"

"Well…" She sighed. "Apparently, the bus broke down and according to Noland's predictions that the rest would not be able to get here until the next two or three day."

"Dang. I was really looking forward to getting that ceremony soon."

Anabel explained the rest that she was sent as a messenger to Ash, however also explained her journey of the sudden rain, her encounter with the fearow and the pidgeot. As soon as she finished the rain stopped.

"Well, that is ironic." Tracy said. It was then Anabel flopped her head on the desk and groaned.

Delia showed up as per her motherly nature.

"Poor dear. She must be tired. How about I take her to rest in the living room?"

Everyone agreed. Knowing the tough times while journeying.

"Hey Espeon and Togekiss might want to be out to dry properly. Can I take their Poke'Balls?" Ash asked politely.

She nodded handing them to him before following Delia. Before they left completely, Anabel turned to them and gently smiled. "I am glad to have finally met you all. Ash has spoken highly of all of you, and even you Paul. I look forward to battling you all."

After she left, everyone turned to Ash.

"I wouldn't have thought that you would choose Anabel Ash. Why not Brandon since he's the strongest?" Brock stated.

Ash smiled. "Well… I wasn't really ready for him. Besides, Anabel was a really good teacher to me, plus she is also my friend and my age so we were able to communicate better. Brock you've seen first hand how strong she is."

Brock hummed in agreement, knowing that despite of her polite looks, she was ruthless in battle. Reggie's reaction to her only furthered that notion.

"She doesn't look that strong." Barry said. It wasn't that he was being mean but that was simply what he saw.

May countered that. "Believe me. She was the first one to beat Ash after he won against every Frontier Brain."

Ash agreed. "Yeah, she kinda creamed me when I got too cocky."

"I know the feeling." Paul's brother said truthfully.

Zoey smiled. "You know I might not be a trainer, but I bet she would be fun to battle. I may just take her on her offer."

Ash, May, Max and Brock nodded. "Definitely. I know I won't win but Anabel looks like she could have fun in a casual battle." Max said.

Speaking of which, Ash released The Salon Maiden's pokemon. The Sun Pokemon and the Jubilee pokemon immediately started to shake off the excess water. Espeon was the most disgruntled due to her thin fur.

Pikachu had grabbed a towel already and hopped down to his friend.

"Pikachu." He offered her. Ash was already drying Togekiss.

"Oh how cute!" Dawn said looking at the same flying-type she had.

"You seem friendly with them." Misty said surprise on such ease these pokemon trusted Ash and Pikachu.

Ash looked at her with 'isn't it obvious' gaze. "I've been with these guys for over two months. I know of all of Anabel's pokemon as I and my pokemon have been training with them."

Pikachu nodded along side Espeon, putting a paw on her head. It was obvious they were friends.

And Ash's friend had finally met Ash's mentor who had helped shape the young man we know now. They had to wonder what did she do to Ash to make him this way. Not that it wasn't a bad thing but still it was a shocker. Those who already met Anabel were able to understand a little bit better.

As for Ash himself, while happy that Anabel was here, he was concerned about the delay in the ceremony. His impatient side was nagging him about that. And then was the battle with Paul. Should he battle the guy before or after the ceremony.

Though to be honest, he didn't feel like having their eyes on him and he would guess Paul wouldn't either.

Maybe he should ask Anabel. Or maybe he should make his own decision.

He decided that in the end, she would support it.

Speaking of the Salon Maiden he wondered how she was doing. Asking for some berries from his mom, he brought a bowl over to her as she rested on the couch. She was still asleep, curled in a little ball on the sofa. Y'know, she was really didn't that strong like she was when battling.

Looking around he noticed her backpack was right next to her. It was different from her normal one. It was larger and more secure with buckles and a secure satchel.

And for some reason it was rocking. Something dinged in his head and he rushed to unbuckle the pack. Just as he thought, Anabel's Pokemon egg was now glowing almost ready to hatch.

Did she know that it was doing this?

Maybe.

"Hey Brock." Ash called out to his most experienced of friends.

"What's up?" The dark skinned boy appeared from around the corner. Spotting Ash with the egg he knew what his friend needed. Brock was not as knowledgeable in Pokemon pre-birth status but what he could tell was that this egg was definitely going to hatch within the next hour or so.

Not wanting the owner of this egg to miss out from this big event he decided it was best to wake her up.

However this time, Ash made sure to steer clear of her when waking her up.

"Hey Espeon, could you wake Anabel up?" He asked the psychic type. She giggled, knowing why the trainer got her to do the job.

"Eph." A small glow of psychic power emitting from her eyes it only took a second for the girl to bolt upright wide awake.

Quickly she looked around unfamiliar setting before eyes resting on Ash. She relaxed, remembering she was now at his home town.

"What's up?" She asked.

Ash merely held up the glass cased egg. The glow was flashing frequently.

She was showed mild surprise. Having known that the egg was going to hatch soon, she did not expect this development so soon.

It would be best to take it to professor Oak's laboratory while leaving Brock behind he would ask the others if they would like to see.

Of course everyone came to see sans Paul, as he said he had better things to do and Reggie not wanting to leave his brother alone opted to stay behind.

Ash Pikachu Anabel and Espeon rushed to get the egg to Oak's lab excitement, running through their veins

Walking in they came across Gary who went to see who was at the door. He had not been at lunch, discussing with Oak about what research he was up to.

"Hey Ashy boy who's-" Gary froze when looking at Anabel, recognition flashing through his eyes.

"Gary?"

"Pi?" The duo looked on wondering what could cause gary to act this way.

Finally he was able to speak. "Y-you're…. you're that girl that was in Pewter City! You're that girl who stole those Poke'balls nearly five years ago.!"

The memory dawned in her head with with a big 'Oooohhhhh'. "Oh that… I… oh yeah… Oops." Immediately she reached into her pocket pulling out her checkered wallet.

"I should really pay you back for thos-"

"Never mind about the money!" Gary said irritated. "I want you tell tell my gramps that you're the one who did it!"

"Your gramps…?"

"He thought I was the one who took them after they were gone and we wouldn't believe me when I said a girl and her eevee stole them." He glared at the Espeon who glared back. "He grounded me for a week because of that." Gary look forlorn in sadness.

"Oh… okay." Anabel looked bait nervous. On the other hand Ash and Pikachu were grinning.

"You stole Poke'balls?" Ash whispered as they head through the lab with a determined Gary towards Oak.

Anabel looked away. "Espeon was an Eevee at that time and she told me she wanted me to be a 'proper' trainer with the Poke'balls. And… I just saw those… so… I took them. I was young and naive!" She defended.

Ash and Pikachu however just laughed. "You do realize that that their a hundred poke bucks cheap in any store right?"

"I didn't know that back then." She said quickly.

"Ephe."

"You didn't know that."

The trainer and pikachu grinned. "I think it's hilarious. I love finding these quirks to you. Its fun to know that you're not always the posh Salon Maiden I know you now."

"Pikachu." The electric type agreed.

A blush appeared on the lavender hair girl's face. But she willed it away when they got into Oak's office.

"Gramps!" Gary announced.

Startled, Oak turned to his grandson. "Yes what is it… Oh hello Ash and… who do we have here?"

"This is Anabel. She was my teacher during the Battle Frontier." Ash said with pride in his voice.

"Oh! Nice to meet you young lady." Oak said smiling.

"Gramps. Remember when you punished me for those missing Poke'balls?" Gary said getting back on topic.

Oak took a while to speak. "Um… yes that does ring a bell."

"Well I have proof that I told the truth. Girl."

"My name is Anabel." She said to Gary. The girl then turned to Oak. "Yes. Your grandson was telling the truth. I did steal those poke'balls all those years back, unaware that I could buy them in stores. I apologize."

"Okay then." Oak said. "Sorry Gary you were right."

Gary however twitched. "That's it?"

Ash and Pikachu burst out laughing.

"Shut up Ash!"

"No! This is hilarious and you know it."

His rival rolled his eyes. "So what are you guys here for anyway?"

The Salon Maiden held up the glass case with the egg now glowing brighter. Gary's eyes widen knowing the importance that they get that in the proper environment.

"Gramps."

"Now what?" Oak turned around, but this time he saw the egg. A grin appeared on his face knowing the joy that came with hatching a pokemon egg. "I see. Well, follow me."

They went around the corridor to metal table with big open windows making sure the light shined in on the surface. There were counters and a few scientific machines. But overall it looked alright.

From one of the drawers, Oak pulled out a soft blanket and a round pillow. He told Anabel to take the egg out and set it down on the pillow. When she was doing this, Brock and Misty came in to watch the arriving pokemon. Everyone else was a busy with who knows what.

However Oak, Gary, Misty and Brock stood back a little so not to overwhelm the newborn.

And now it was time to wait.

"What do you think it is?" Brock asked .

Anabel shrugged. "I don't really know. Brandon is the one who gave it to me."

"Why did he do that?" Brock asked not knowing much about the mysterious Pyramid King.

Ash explained that Anabel was taught by Brandon when she was inducted into the Battle Frontier. And you could see how impressed the group was hearing that she joined when she was only ten years old.

The egg was now constantly glowing. Almost blinding.

"It's hatching." Brock announced.

And soon enough the egg formed into a glowing round, oval shape with small curvy prongs coming out.

And soon…

Blue eyes on a black face peered at the humans and pokemon. Fur covered half it's body, with orange horns sticking out. Little stubs of legs, two in front and four on the tan thorax.

"Larvesta!"

"B-b-bug!"

"Oh yeah." Ash said looking at Misty. Never seeing that pokemon before, he took out his Poke'dex.

Hmmm... The data was unknown.

"You won't be finding that Pokemon with your poke'dex Ash." Anabel said before reaching down to Larvesta to get acquainted with it.

The Torch pokemon quirked its furry white head, before smushing its face into her hand. Obviously the little guy was already attached to the Salon Maiden.

"Oh my." Oak said from the side. "So that's a Larvesta. I heard that they are very rare, even in their home region."

Anabel nodded. Pikachu and Espeon got on the table as well. Best introduce the newborn to other pokemon as soon as possible.

"Pika Pikachu." Pikachu offered a paw. Espeon was on his side offering a kind look. "Espeon Esp."

Curious at the other strangers, the bug type circled around them looking at their tails before turning around to see if he had one.

"He's really curious." Ash said before he asked permission to pick the guy up. And of course he was allowed to.

Holding it at eye level, Ash smiled. "You know he's really cute."

Even though the larvesta didn't know what the human was saying, he was pleased. "Lar!… VESTA!" At the end it sneezed and when it did, hot embers emerged scorching Ash's face.

"I didn't know bug-types could learn ember." Ash coughed out. Instantly Larvesta was given back to Anabel.  
"Larvesta's are bug and fire types." She invited everyone over to get a closer look of the rare pokemon. However Misty stood behind petrified.

Ash and Brock sweat dropped to each other.

"You're still not over your fear of bugs?" Ash asked.

Misty started to stutter. "I may… may be more tolerable of most bugs…. but that's because I realize that they are smaller… that… that one… is huge."

The two boys had to admit, Larvesta was far bigger than most larva bug pokemon. It was even bigger than Pikachu. However with much convincing, Ash and Brock were able to pull the Cerulean City gym leader closer.

"It better not jump on my face like your caterpie." She glared at Ash.

But there was not much to worry about. The Larvesta was already asleep. Thanking professor Oak and Gary for the care, the rest of the group headed back to the Ketchum house. It looked like the rest of the group was outside, either training with pokemon or wandering outside.

"So where is this guy… or girl from?" Ash asked looking at the sleeping bug. Anabel's arms were literally full carrying the pokemon. She couldn't put it in a poke'ball yet, as it would startle the poor thing if it wasn't awake.

"It is apparently he. And he is from my home region from Unova. As Professor Oak said Larvesta and their evolution, Volcarona, are really rare in Unova… though… not as rare as a Pikachu."

"Piii!" The mouse pokemon giggled.

"Ephe!"

"Or an Espeon. Let alone an Eevee." Anabel said to calm her starter.

"Hmmm…" Ash said thinking about the strange region of Unova. Just wondering about the challenges there made his blood tingle with excitement.

Sun shined down on them. Around evening time, and it looked like it was going to be a quick day. Anabel needed to take care of and feed the larvesta soon. Not to mention put send one of her pokemon back so that she could keep the larvesta on hand. So we turn into the day. The time to retire was at hand. Of course, sans Misty, the rest of the girls squealed when seeing the adorable bug.

However the little guy was tuckered out once it ate its first berry milk, courtesy of Brock with help from Delia. And so it was decided that, with much convincing from the others, that Anabel should stay over with them, despite of the lavender haired girl's polite protest.

And they went to bed. Simple as that.

Of course it wasn't.

Ash… Ash was having a bit of a soft heart. Or… should we say what happens when boys starts liking a girl. And so, he had done something he had never done before. Sneak out. With a girl.

He and Pikachu did the same old tactic to sneak out this morning. Only this time, Ash sent Pikachu down the stairs to wake one special girl up.

From the dark, a small little paw ebbing Anabel awake. Larvesta was sleeping right next to her, wrapped up in blankets resting on a pillow. Obviously the bug type was a heavy sleeper like his trainer.

"Pi." A groggy head emerged from the sleeping bag. A small little zap jolted her awake.

"What is it?" Anabel whispered harshly.

He kept tugging at her to follow him.

"Fine. Fine." She said getting up. She, like all trainers worth their money, learned to sleep in their trainer gear.

Pikachu headed towards the bathroom, however the window was open and the shine showed her what laid ahead.

"Ash?" She asked climbing out the window. Since the moon was glowing brightly, you could see the red blush showing up on his face.

"I… I…" Pikachu hopped on his shoulder giving his face a nudge to carry one. "Okay… I want to show you Pallet Town. My home, since you showed me yours."

This was one of those really sweet things you would never really hear from Ash Ketchum's mouth. However around a girl he likes, he does a lot of things he would not normally do.

"At night?" She questioned.

"Yeah well…" He gestured to the rest of his friends inside the house. Obviously he had not told them about his relationship yet.

"I see. Very well. What do you want to show me?" Boldly, unlike her, she grasped his hand in a firm grip.

He returned it.

"You should let Espeon out." Ash said noticing Pikachu waiting excitingly.

She agreed. "You know its funny." Anabel said taking out her Poke'ball. "Espeon seems to want out of her Poke'ball more. Guess Pikachu is influencing her."

The mouse pokemon was pleased by this. "Pikachu."

The light shined and out came the Sun Pokemon who looked sleepy and surprised she came out at night. "Ephe?" She asked Anabel wondering what she was doing out.

As Anabel explained that they were sneaking out, Espeon started to scold her.

"Esp-peon Ephe!" Turns out that the psychic type had a motherly side when it came to her trainer.

Pikachu was the one to calm her though. "Pika pika Pi-chu." He was telling her that it was alright and they would only be out for a small time.

"Ephe ephe…" She was still unsure, worried about her trainer's health.

"Pika." Pikachu insisted saying that they are showing them the place where he met his trainer.

Espeon was curious. Though she saw the lab, her curiosity of the new town had won overall.

"So this is my house… but I guess you already know that huh?" Ash stated feeling bit embarrassed at the blatant statement. Anabel took it in stride.

On to the rest of the town, Ash showed her the oldest houses and some of the newer houses that developed over the time he had gone on journeys. The mayor's house and then he pointed to the windmill that singled Oak's Laboratory.

"Before I turned ten, I was always so excited whenever I was able to visit there to play with Gary instead of him coming to my house. I got to see more of pokemon there, and he and I would always try to sneak out to the Pokemon sanctuary. Of course we would always get caught." His eyes were looking into the past obviously there were found memories in their childish adventures.

"You and him seem to be good friends." Anabel said as they walked down the path.

"Yeah…" Ash frowned. "However not always. A little after we turned nine, he turned nine before me, Gary started to take the whole trainer rival thing a little too seriously and kinda decided we shouldn't be friends since in his mind rivals shouldn't be friends." He sighed. "He was always better than me which kinda made the whole thing even more frustrating. However in the end, we became friends again."

"Hmmmm" The Salon Maiden hummed not knowing what to say. She really didn't have the type of childhood Ash had. That experience was beyond her. However it was nice to hear what sort of past that made Ash.

They continued to walk with their pokemon at their side. Ash continued to show her locations that held memories of his past, and towards the Xanadu Nursery, the greenhouse he visited as a kid. He promised to take her there sometime as he knew she was interested in flowers and seeing different flora.

They sat halfway on the hill that held Oak's Lab.

"I like Pallet Town." Anabel said after observing the little residence from their vantage point.

"It's alright." Ash said. Pallet town was alright but kinda boring. Not much to do, and hardly anything went on here. Not like the other cities or even Cobalt Port.

"You know with you as a Frontier Brain, you're going to start bringing in more people. Things may change." She said looking out.

Ash nodded. "I'll make sure its for the better."

Sometimes you had to be careful with change, like everything it comes with both good and evil. As part of the Battle Frontier, they want the good outcome. Anabel smiled agreeing with him. It won't be easy, they all had challenges, but they would help each other in the end.

Now here came an important question. "So when are you going to show me your facility?" She asked with a grin on her face.

Ash groaned in embarrassment. "Oh man I completely forgot! I'll show you tomorrow. It looks better that way anyway."

It was a promise.

Pikachu yawned.

"Speaking of morning we should probably get back." Anabel said getting up. Ash followed suit.

However half way there Ash stopped.

"What's wrong Ash?" Anabel asked concerned. Looking at him she recognize the face of a determined battler.

"I'm going to battle Paul tomorrow." Ash's voice was stern. "He challenged me, thinking I have given up my dream. But I intend to prove him wrong."

"And?" The Salon Maiden's voice was inquisitive however didn't know why Ash was telling her this.

"And I just want your support."

"Of course Ash." She said overt. "You don't need to tell me this. You are allowed to do what your wish. I wish you well."

Ash understood then that he was no longer her student and thus didn't really need looked after. Y'know after this he probably didn't need to be looked after anyone anymore even on his journeys.  
"Right."

With hand holding they walked back to the household entering the way they left, sneaking in and no one was the wiser

* * *

Bright and early in the morning was the day the battle between Ash and Paul was going to commence.

While our hero was not just yet an official Frontier Brain, he was going to show the power of what he learned during his time. To show the bond between human and pokemon at its most potent.

Already he could feel the blood in his body starting to heat up, just itching for the battle. Ash willed himself to be calm though. He needed to think and be… be a Frontier Brain.

_'Right. Big time, big day. Not the same guy I was a few months ago. I'm going to show everyone that.'_ And he meant everyone. Call it a nagging feeling but he felt like his friends weren't really registering that he had changed a bit or maybe a lot. But it didn't matter, at core he was still Ash Ketchum…

Just a little bit smarter. Maybe. He didn't really know. _'Oh well.'_ With that he woke up Pikachu, like his trainer, the electric type was bound with excitement, ready to go.

There was no time to waste. The two bounded down the stairs, quietly though, he didn't want the others to wake up.

But his surprise when he saw Anabel trying to feed a rambunctious Larvesta. The little guy was super curious about everything and seemed to just want to explore everywhere.

Larvesta noticed the strange creature that looked like his mother, with the yellow thing. He waved at them and attempted to jump on him. However Anabel was able to catch him in time with Ash helping her out.

Luckily it was quiet enough not the disturb the rest of the girls in the other areas of the house.

"Thanks." THe Salon Maiden whispered looking sheepish.

Ash grinned big and bright. "No prob. Hey wanna come with me to the Battle Castle? I promised to show it to you before my battle." Anabel agreed, seeing that it would be less of a hassle keeping the little guy quiet outside.

"Lar lar lar…"

Both trainers grinned going outside. Pikachu always got on Anabel's shoulder to pet the white fuzz of the torch pokemon. The chirping sound got loud but luckily they were out the door by then. Howbeit looking at Pikachu, Larvesta started to squirm in Anabel's grip. Using his bug legs, he grasped around her, traveling towards the back before clamping on tightly like a backpack.

"Larvesta."

Staring in a mixture of surprised and impressed they decided that Ash would keep watch on Larvesta while Anabel would walk with the new addition to her style. This could be handy in the future.

A nagging question sprouted in Ash's mind. Now was the perfect time to ask.

"So can you understand him?" He gestured to baby pokemon.

"Nope. Larvesta speaks complete gibberish." Anabel said. You could hear the laugh behind her voice. "He'll learn eventually. Espeon intends to help; she is a very good teacher." Espeon had always been a good teacher, even as a hotheaded eevee.

"Excited?" Anabel asked thinking about the battle ahead.

The look he gave her was a blatant one. Dumb question, you didn't even need empathetic powers to tell Ash was pumped for the battle.

Soon enough the Battle Castle was in clear sight. Like Ash said, it was impressive, very elegant. Yet, a small little memory of not really liking castle popped up. She erased it from her mind, not wanting it to spoil the moment.

Together they walked down the halls to the pokemon courtyard. Larvesta immediately detached himself from Anabel trying to explore the new era and the new creatures in it. However he was stopped by Pikachu and Espeon who just came out of her Poke'ball sensing they needed her assistance.

The aura of psychic surrounded the baby pokemon, gently placing him to the side of his human. This went on three times before he got the idea. If anything this larvesta was tenacious.

The Pokemon Courtyard the Battle Castle was an amazing during the sunrise. Moss and thin soft blades of grass shined in the morning sun as light bathed through the varieties of leaves.

From a small pound, pound, two red shapes were resting themselves in the water. However, one of them stepped out seeing who was there.

"Cor cor!" Corphish, aways the quirky of Ash's pokemon, came up to to his trainer giving wave of his claw before going over to Anabel to gain her attention. Ever since his first battle with Anabel, the Ruffian pokemon had gained a special affinity of the Salon Maiden.

Anabel also liked the personality this Corphish offered. He was unlike most of his kind, who were very gruff and sometimes very hard to express themselves. Corphish was the exact opposite and his blatant inability to hide his emotions and expressiveness was a fun to decipher.

"It's nice to see you again too Corphish." Anabel said grasping his claws.

"Lar Lar!" Larvesta started to complain though, getting close to Corphish to want the attention of Anabel. Corphish jumped back at the new and big arrival pushing him away.

And just when it looked like the water type was about to hit the little guy with Crab Hammer, he was stopped by Ash grabbing his pincher. A firm look stopped Corphish from going to extremes.

"So have you prepared for the battle?" Anabel asked calming Larvesta down by taking out a Poke'Doll of a eevee. Immediately Larvesta became distracted and began to chew on it like the infant he was.

Ash grinned bright and wide. "Not at all! I'm going into this as a Frontier Brain and normally they have to be prepared for when ever someone challenges them, anytime and anywhere. On the spot!"

"So are you winging it?"

"Yep!." Ash said with pride. He just then noticed that it wasn't Anabel who asked that.

"WAAA!"

"PIKA!"

The two jumped back startled seeing that the Aura Philosopher's green eyes peering right over from behind.

"Hi Ash. Hello Miss Anabel. Nice to see you again."

Ash clutched his heart breathing heavy. "GEEZ! Why did you do that?!" He yelled at the grinning trainer.

Jed knocked Ash on the head.  
'Whack'!  
"Well you should've sensed me! I could detect you from a mile away." Jed berated. For the sake of it, he whacked Ash again. 'Whack'!  
"WILL YOU STOP THAT?!"

"Yes."

Another deep breath. "…good…"

"Same as always I see." Anabel watching the scene play out before her.

Jed faked a bow taking of his hat. "Of course." From his position Spinda popped from his position on Jed's back.

"Spin spin!" He waved to Pikachu and Espeon.

The Spot Panda pokemon got down and Jed then spoke. "Ash I'm blaming you."

Ash groaned. "Now what?"

The white haired boy pointed at his starter. "Spinda now never wants to go back to his Poke'ball and instead is always on my head. So I should also blame you too Pikachu."

The electric type's ears flopped backwards. "Pi…"

A bright grin broke across the older trainer's face, all of this in good humor. "Hehe… How are you guys doing?"

The two kids shrugged.

"Well enough I suppose." Anabel said looking towards Ash. "Ash is becoming a Frontier Brain, and I have a new member on my team."

Larvesta appeared still chewing the Poke'doll. Jed's reaction was unexpected of a guy his age. "Oh my gosh. It's so cute." He crouched down on his stomach to stare at it. The Larvesta stared back.

"Can I pet him?" He asked.

"Yes." Anabel said already use to Jed's eccentric behavior. "He is pretty cute isn't he?"

"Adorable. But so is that corphish." Jed said getting up.

"Corphish!" As always, the water typed loved any attention he got.

Ash now over his shock spoke. "So what are you doing here Jed? I thought that you were going to be at Merry Isle for a while."

Pikachu nodded a slight frown coming to his muzzle thinking about the place. It left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Pikaaa."

"I did all I need to do there. My folks are doing fine, and I got all the boring stuff done so I thought, why not visit my recently discovered cousin and see his Battle Facility like I said? So I did, now that I have time." Jed said picking up Spinda. As always the normal type kept wiggling around like a child.

Well that made since. It was kinda weird for Ash to believe he had a cousin, though around two or three times removed. But it was nice to see more people excited for his upcoming promotion to a Frontier Brain.

Jed brought up what the two were talking about before he intervened. He guessed correctly of an upcoming battle however the details eluded him.

Ash explained. "It's a rival of mine I met in Sinnoh. While I did beat him once it was when-"

"You weren't at your greatest?"

"Yeah…" Ash nodded; for a brief moment his eyes darted to Anabel. Once again, his gratitude for helping get back on his feat. "So… he challenged me again, and I'm going to do two things."

This was news to Anabel here. "What's that?"

"Esp?"

"Pi?"

"What I want to do is one, teach him what it means to be a Pokemon trainer. That's its not about strength and two… I, I want to show everyone that, that I am strong and I'm not to be messed with. Kinda selfish I know-"

Anabel disagreed. "No its not. Everyone has the right if they can back it up and use it wisely. You are allowed to do the same so long as you don't forget who you are and what you do to get through it."

This made Ash feel a bit better. It was true Paul thought he was getting weaker by becoming part of the Battle Frontier, but it was so much more than that. While, yes, he was stronger but it wasn't just in strength, but in friends and in himself.

He felt the reassuring hand of his partner on his shoulder, the firm grasp of Pikachu's paws and the look of approval from his Aura teacher. Corphish always looked at his trainer with pride, Espeon with trust, Spinda with a smile and even a faint bit of warmth from Larvesta who was paying attention somehow knowing this was important.

He was Ash Ketchum, he had traveled across many regions, battled many battles, encountered so many pokemon and legendaries and conquered and befriended the mighty Giratina. And… and was going to be the greatest Pokemon Master and he would be a good Frontier Brain.

"Huh… I knew it was a good idea to bring this. And you doubted me Spinda." Jed said reaching for his satchel.

"Spinda spinda." The normal type shrugged.

"Whatcha got?" Ash asks curious.

The aura philosopher took out a thermos pouring a nice smelling liquid. "Tea to prepare the trainer's soul. It's vanilla." He said handing a cup to Ash and a small little thing to Pikachu.

"Thanks."

"Pi."

They both downed it in one gulp. It warmed their insides and now they were wide awake.

It was time to get down to business. He had no idea how much Paul had trained during the months after the Sinnoh league and he had no idea which of the Veilstone Trainer's pokemon he was going to use. So Ash chose a mix of his Pokemon going with his gut. Of course the obvious choice was always Pikachu. Couldn't have a proper battle with his rival without his starter and best buddy.

As Ash gathered the rest of his team, Jed and Anabel, as two old friends caught up on somethings.

"So how were your folks?" Anabel asked. She was sitting against a trunk of a tree, Larvesta was still awake and now playing with a small stick that had a few leaves that Jed was dragging around to keep the guy going. Spinda was watching patiently which was unlike him. Looks like his curiosity of the strange new pokemon was keeping him in place.

"They're alright as always. Worried about me as I'm going to turn nineteen soon and they want me to go to college."

"And do you agree with that?" Anabel asked curious. She never really considered the prospect of higher education, always just knowing she learns everything just by reading about things.

The Aura Philosopher nodded. "Yeah. I've always wanted to go to college even when I was a kid. Even talked to my pokemon about it and they agree. That, and I not cut out as a trainer anyway. In fact there are several universities am considering but…" He trailed off. Both he and Spinda turning to each other with a worried look. "But it looks like with the way things going, it may take a little while longer."

Anabel frowned with them. "It's strange. You keep all sorts of secrets around you yet you can figure out everyone else's."

Jed smiled bitterly. "It's my job after all. Hopefully, it will be a temporary job." He shook his head waving his thoughts off.

"Besides the secret finding about you was for your own benefit Anabel, can't carrying everything on your own right?"

"Spinda."

She let out a small nod. "I know…"

"Though I have to say, your a lot happier these days. Guess we have to thank Ash for that." Both humans looked at the dark haired trainer looking over some pokemon. Right now he was just warming up with them. "I'm proud of you branching out like this. Of both of you."

Larvesta snatched the stick right out of Jed's hand and it looked like he wasn't giving it back.

"I guess that's that then. Though I have to ask, have you told Ash about….'secrets'?" Jed hinted, never saying right out.

Anabel sighed petting Espeon as per habit. "… He knows I don't like talking about my childhood and remarkably he respects that. He told me to tell him when I'm ready." Brows furrowed and emotions inside her were confused. "The problem is, is that I don't know when I'll be ready."

Jed got up, Spinda at his heel. "You will. Don't worry."

She did the same. "Easier said than done." She remarked back.

Jed shrugged.

Both of them turned to Ash again, this time with more humor. "You should really stop teasing Ash so much though. He gets really blustered at your antics."

In good nature Jed laughed. "Ash makes it far too easy to mess around with. I have so much fun with the kid."

She rolled her eyes. Jed looked at Spinda with a mischievous grin. "So have you two smooched yet?" The normally composed Salon Maiden disappeared showing a blustered blushing girl. "W-w-where did that come from?!" She said clearly disturbed. Jed and Spinda laughed. "Well you guys have been together for a while, it granted to happen even to you guys." "That is none of your business!"

"You talking about me?" Ash asked walking up to them completely oblvious.

"Of sorts." Jed blatantly said causing Ash to roll his eyes. Anabel kept looking away shyly, simmering at the Aura Philosopher.

Ignoring her embarrassment and red face Anabel asked if he was ready. A short nod from Ash confined that, already his adrenaline was getting a bit more intense.

To cool him off, Jed asked for him to tour around the Battle Castle. So once again, it was the strange trio of the apprenticeship once again. However roles have been changed a bit. A graduated student and two teachers now just friends, or one friend and one 'partner' as they put it.

However through Jed's aura sense, it looked like a large group of people were heading towards this direction.

Looks like the battle between the Sinnoh rivals was coming close.

Off they went to one of the Battle arenas. One that took place in a normal field. Basic, however it was a nice day, why not have the one of the retractable ceilings open. With a bit of finagling, the ceiling doors opened exposing the bright sky with the big fluffy clouds open.

On the side were bleachers, more than enough to hold his friends. Made of stone with pillows on them to keep up with the castle theme.

The silhouettes of familiar people were walking around the halls coming around slowing trickling in. First was Barry, always the fastest to the group, eager to see. His outburst on how come Ash didn't tell him about the battle with Paul was loud as always, but justified. Apparently Reggie is the one who told everyone.

Ash just kinda forgot really.

Paul was surprisingly next. Not one for dramatic entrances of being last, he was going straight for the kill; so to speak.

Next was Brock and Misty who have Ash a look similar to his beginning journey with them when he did something stupid. Probably for not telling them. He grinned sheepishly. They also have a stare to Anabel and… the guy they didn't know. Introductions would be later.

Next were May, Zoey and Dawn carrying Piplup, they probably talking about coordinator things. Tracy showed up alone, talking to Reggie.

As Paul walked up to the stand, the rest took their seats, Tracy as per habit took to the side as referee. Anabel and Jed sat in back while everyone else seated themselves in the front.

The Veilstone trainer stared hard and long at his rival and he realized, like him announcing his challenge yesterday, that this was a very different person. His stance was on edge like he was about to get in the arena himself. His eyes were darting around and boring into everything and his fist clenched in and out.

Even that pikachu was far more dangerous, tense like his trainer, ready for battle, ready to win.

So…

Here we go.

"The battle between Ash and Paul shall begin. This will be a six on six battle, both trainers are allowed substitutes-"

"No I'm not allowed to." This caught his friends off guard sans the ones who battled Ash during the initiation. "This battle is between a challenger and I as a Frontier Brain. I will follow the rules. So, no substitutes. I stick with what pokemon are out."

"That will put Ash at a disadvantage though." Dawn said.

Barry nodded. "Yeah this was never really a problem for regular trainers. We don't have experience in this."

"Hmmm. The kid sure has grown since I fought him." Came an unfamiliar voice from behind.

They turned to him, May asking who he was.

Jed put on a false sad face. "Ash didn't introduce me? I'm hurt." He then smiled tipping his hat off to them. "My name's Jed Stone and this is Spinda." He pointed to his odd colored starter. "We are associate of Anabel's who then associated me with Ash. During his Battle Frontier training Spinda and I battled your friend. I have to say, he's a very good trainer."

"Why is you spinda blue?" Max asked out of no where.

Jed and Spinda winked. "That's a secret."

"Quiet you guys. They are saying something." Zoey said.

Paul was speaking. "I find that unfortunate, I was hoping to see more of your team." A small smile of an idea showed. "So I propose this set of rules." Ash narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "While you may not be allowed substitutes during the round, I say that you change your Pokemon after every round unless you're down to one."

"Well that's good, right? It allows Ash to change his team." May said thinking about what they said.

Brock disagreed. "No that still puts Ash at a disadvantage as Paul can change his pokemon to fit any situation."

Everyone looked on at their friend with worry.

Ash was thinking about the new set of rules. In the end he agreed. "Alright, after every round, unless they faint, I will change my pokemon. And like others, I send out my pokemon first. Gliscor! I choose you!"

Paul narrowed his eyes. "Gastrodon. Stand by for battle."

Tracy looked nervously between both of them. "Begin."

A second didn't pass before Ash gave the order.

"SANDSTORM!" Ash barked, teeth bared. His heart beat had been rising over the past minutes. Blood slowly rising in temperature. He wanted to battle, he wanted to burn. He wanted to ignite the field on fire with the same intensity with in his heart. The capsules on his belt that contained his team, he could feel they felt the same way.

"Gli!"

Gliscor also felt this way, gleefully, tongue out and wink, whipping her tail to cause the storm of debris.

"Use your wings!" Came Ash's next order in the next second. And flapping the leather black wings, Gliscor made the sandstorm more direct in Gastrodon's face.

Paul finally got over Ash's lightning quick actions and made his move. "Use Muddy Water to blow it back."

A giant brown torrent of mud and water, rose from nowhere. It toward over the field showing the power behind it. In fact it was roaring in sound as the water rushed towards the Fang Scorpion Pokemon; it was boring into the ears of everyone.

"SPIN WITH THE WATER WHILE USING STONE EDGE!" Somehow, Ash's voice was louder than the deafening wave, and it was crystal clear to his pokemon who followed his order right after they were given.

Following the momentum of the waves and creating a shield with stone edge. Minimal damage was dealt as most of the stones deflected the water.

She flew up high, using the vacuum the last remnants of the wave caused allowed her to do so. Gastrodon was falling from the sudden interrupted wave. However Paul came back with an Ice Beam directed at Gliscor. It nabbed her tail and yet this did nothing to deter the overall plan.

"Gliscor!"

Pincers clamped down on the soft gooey surface on the Sea Slug Pokemon.

"ICE BEAM!"

"ACROBATICS!"

Two voices cried out. Both full of authority and command. However, the difference between them was clear. One was the same, and one was vastly different from last time.

Soon the two pokemon began to spin rapidly, an Ice Beam was sent spiraling out of control, grazing the walls and floors.

"Body Slam!" Paul called out seeing the momentum gaining. In a ditch effort, both pokemon landed on the ground.

Paul seemed to be relentless in his attacks trying to get the edge over the dual flying ground type.

Ash realized what Paul was doing. Both ground and flying types take double damage from ice type attacks.

Nab a pokemon with both of the types and you get quadruple the damage. However, the point to flying types in general was to be fast enough to not get hit. And that was the whole purpose of Gliscor's extended training with McCann.

Gliscor swerved around the jagged Ice Beam like she was actually flying. No doubt there was some close calls but the flexibility of Gliscor was something to behold. However when zooming across the ground, Paul knew exactly when to attack.

"Gastrodon Muddy Water." From their positions the rise of dark brown water rose far above Gliscor and the great force that was centered around the bottom was so strong that a spinning Stone Edge wouldn't deflect it.

Ash knew this. "Gliscor please bear it!"

With a determined face, the Fang Scorpion pokemon wrapped herself tightly with her wings and tail curled up rolling on the ground as the wave took her, ramming into Gliscor with a force to topple a car.

"Jump from the wave and use Body Slam." Paul ordered once the confirmed hit on Gliscor was met.

"Gastro!" The Sea Slug complied as always, landing a successful hit on the Gliscor.

"Pretty good Paul but your gonna have to try harder to get us down! C'mon Gliscor! I know you can handle this." Ash called out, caring but confident, and like it has been said, when the trainer believes fully in himself and his pokemon, that same determination bleeds into the pokemon.

Gliscor got up immediately on her feet, her barbed tail swishing and claws snapping shut. "Gliscor!" Came the cry accompanied by the tongues of flames erupting from her throat.

Paul nodded, though he was amazed at the ferocity his opponent and his Pokemon were emitting. "Gastrodon, stay focused. Water Pulse."

"Doooooooonnnn!" A giant sphere of water emerged and shot towards Gliscor at an alarming rate.

Ash was ready though. "Stone edge over and over again! Make them circle you."

Even not knowing where her trainer was going with this, Gliscor's complied. Her claws dug up shards of rock that spun rapidly in an sheid like fashion.

Paul was not impressed. For all of Ketchum's flash, this wasn't the brightest move. A Rock-type move could not stand up to a Water-type move. "Wrong move!" Paul announced right before the Water Pulse hit.

The Stone Edge Shield immediately broke and sent the ground/flying type back. This time you could see a bit of toll being taken on her, as she breathed heavy around.

"Thanks Gliscor!" Ash called knowing that it wasn't easy to take on a powerful water-type move. "Really Paul, I usually have a plan." Sometimes you had to risk it to get the greater outcome. "Gliscor use SandStorm!"

Once again the rushing wind of sand came up however this time, large sharp shards of stone were in it as well, making it grow bigger and bigger until it engulfed the whole field.

_'That was his plan?'_ The Veilstone trainer realized what had happened. By destroying the Stone Edge Shield, it just gave SandStorm more material to work with, increasing the damage to even Gastrodon who was also ground type.

"Ice Beam!" Came his next move. However it was so hard to see, the pokemon in the field were completely blurred.

"Ga ga?" The water type called out, not sure where his opponent was. "Gastro!" However he made up his mind deciding it was best to launch Ice Beam around in some hopes to hit his elusive opponent.

However, the rocks in the sand storm simply caught the Ice Beam when it hit, making the whole mixed move into a strange combination of Ice, Rock, and Ground. A recipe for disaster.

For at least Gastrodon.

Once again the difference between Ash and Paul became clear. The purple haired trainer wasn't bonded enough to his pokemon to know where he was in the chaos unlike Ash. Ash believed that Gliscor knew his intentions.

"ACROBATICS!"

From no where, Gliscor emerged like a shadow, teeth gleaming. The sharp pincers once again pressed down on the soft flesh on the Sea Slug before he was hurled up with such ferocity into the eye of the storm where shrapnel barraged the water-ground type over and over again.

"Dismiss it." Ash called out, seeing this onslaught was enough. With a wink, Gliscor obeyed feeling her trainer's worry for his opponents pokemon. Such a good boy.

"Scor!" With that the wind left and came Gastrodon was already on the floor, knocked out.

With a deep breath, now knowing what he was up against, Paul recalled his pokemon. But this time-  
"Rest. We will improve." It was an odd mix of firmness but a tinge of kindness to his tone. Ash was right, he was a nicer guy.

Looking at his opponent he was not expecting Ketchum to say nothing; no cheers, no fanfare. He said nothing recalling his Gliscor.  
"You did awesome. I'm proud of ya." Ash said with pikachu cooing soft encouragements from his shoulder.

Twisting his neck, eyes gleaming from the shadow of his hat, he looked at the challenger.

"Like I said Paul, I'm not the same trainer you fought in Sinnoh."

And so the battle between Paul and Ash had started! Though he had a victory behind his belt, this was no time to get cocky for Ash as this could turn out just like the Lily of the Valley tournament. Will it end the same? Will Ash lose this time? Or will something expected happen?

After all this isn't the trainer from Sinnoh.

This was Ash Ketchum of the Battle Frontier!

End of Chapter 30

* * *

**I am so going to just screw up the normal battle rules and just Anime it.  
However I don't want to make Ash... too... overpowered here. And Paul is a tough trainer, let's see who wins.**

**Also fun facts weekly updates about this author on my author page.  
Just simple stuff.**

**Have fun!**

**P.S.  
THANK YOU RUBBERLOTUSSHIPPER!**


	31. The Other Side of the Battle Field: II

**HELLO!**

**This is True-InTha-Blue and I bet you thought we wouldn't get another chapter this month.**

**(well to be honest neither did I)  
But I pulled a few things and finally bashed my writers block and got this battle finished.  
Yes it is a short chapter however...  
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AHEAD!**

Also to address something from my previous chapter that all of you charming people keep nagging me about.

**Yes I am aware that according to anime that all Pokemon are  
Male until proven otherwise.**

**Personal opinion I think that Gliscor has more female tendencies with the winking and the really affectionate side towards Ash. Plus I think it would be cool to see such a vicious looking pokemon like Gliscor to be a female.**

**That is just me.**

**Also once again thank you to RubberLotusShipper for editing chapter 1 and eventually 2. I hope this will be a great partnership and I suggest you people check this person out because his grammar and spelling rock, and outclasses me by far.**

**I am still writing more chapters.**

**Also another shoutout for Younger P for giving me some good advice.  
Thank you.**

**As always  
Enjoy the chapter**

**Disclaimer: The rights to Pokémon belong to Satoshi Tajiri, and obviously not me.**

* * *

From One Side to Another

By True-InTha-Blue

Chapter 31

The Other Side of the Battle Field Prt 2

When we last saw our heroes, Ash and Paul's battle in the Battle Castle had taken underway. Paul with Gastrodon and Ash with Gliscor, both familiar faces from the Lily of the Valley tournament. However though Gastrodon put up a good fight, Gliscor's power and speed along with Ash adaptability and ingenuity in battle had overwhelmed Paul's pokemon.

But the battle between these two changing rivals was only just beginning.

While Paul is down one pokemon, he was down two pokemon in the Sinnoh League when he last fought Ash before he made a vicious comeback. This leads our hero, Ash, to be on edge, suspecting the worst. But his soul was burning fiercely and his drive was unmatched.

Let us see how the rest will turn out.

"The next round of the battle will begin." Tracy said after the trainers had recalled their pokemon. "Paul has five remaining and Ash has six. Trainers make your next call."

"Come out Corphish. Show me what you got." Ash called out one of his older teammates.

"Corphish!" The water type called out in glee, happy to be in battle once again.

"No more time to mess around. Electivire, stand by." Paul said calling out one of his most trusted pokemon.

From the light, the large electric type emerged snarling at his opponent. "Electivire!"

"Phish?' In true fashion, Corphish merely tilted his head in confusion not at all getting it.

From the observer side, the performance from before was rummaging through their minds.

"What is wrong with Ash?" Dawn asked looking away from the intense battle. Specifically the intense eyes of her friend. The rest had stood jaws agape at Ash's ferocity. His eyes were constantly narrowed and teeth bared, however his body was strained like he was holding back from leaping into the battlefield himself. Not only that but Pikachu and Gliscor were also emitting such an aura.

There was also to consider Ash's even more unorthodox methods. Those were no less to say strange.

"I… don't… know…" Gary said slowly. Everyone who hadn't been seeing Ash develop during his Battle Frontier training was trapped in surprise and shock. Those who had though.

"Looks like he's finally found his two feet." Jed said quietly to Anabel. She nodded silently keeping her eyes on the battle and on Ash. Jed continued. "I have to say though, I'm not worried that the kid will lose, rather that his blood pressures will do him in." He joked.

Anabel quirked a small smile, use to Jed's strange sense of humor.

"Larve…." She felt her newest member shudder intensely as he witnessed the first battle of his torch pokemon did calm down when she brushed her hand across his head.

As for Paul, well it was hard to tell what he was thinking. After all, the battle has just began.

"Begin!" Tracy announced.

"Electivire rush forward with Protect!" Paul commanded first, knowing that Ash would be more than likely to act first.

And indeed Crabhammer bounced off of the shield. Right after that, Paul called Thunder which struck the water type, knocking him away. "Proceed with Thunderpunch! Don't let up." Using his opponents stunned state to his advantage, Electivire began to pummel away at Corphish. And like Corphish any water type wouldn't be able to stand the attacks.

Paul looked into Ash's eyes and he was suspicious at the none worried look. Ash noticed his rival staring at him and gave a feral smile. "Nice try! Corphish Vice Grip!"

"COR!" Large red claws snapped out from the electricity a clamped down hard on Electivire's arm and proceeded to grasp the next one.

"V-vire!" The Thunderbolt Pokemon cried out, surprised.

"Now Night Slash!" Ash called out.

Dark energy emerged from Corphish's body striking the electric type at close range and knocking him back.

Paul had a plan B though. "Electivire return! Drapion, prepare for battle!" Soon the Ogre Scorpion Pokemon came forth and roared with its ferocious might. Everyone who watched the Sinnoh Tournament between Ash and Paul knew of Drapion's power and tenacity. This would effect the battle even further due to Corphish being weakened by Electivire's barrage.

Paul acted first going on a familiar strategy that wired. "Let's do this. Toxic Spike."

"DRAAA!" Drapion roared unleashing a great purple ball of poison that was launching to the sky.

Ash quickly looked at Pikachu. "Corphish! Bat it away!"

"Cor for!" Leaping up to a height that wasn't found normally known in his kind, the water type, came up to the purple orb just before it dropped and Crap Hammer-ed it towards the ceiling resulting for the Toxic Spike to react on the ceiling instead of the ground.

People looked not believing what they saw. How was this possible?

"Didn't know that could be done." Anabel stated looking quite impressed at Ash's constant surprises.

"He's taking a lot of risks." Gary said out loud looking intently on the battle.

"I bet he knew that would work." Barry said with confidence getting pumped.

Back to the battle, Ash stared at the results. "Huh… I didn't think that would work." He admitted.

"Pikachu."

"Right. Use Dragon Dance!"

Corphish landed looking confidently now with a determined look. A strange stormy aura circled around the Ruffian Pokemon making a glow come around him.

Paul remained calm as always though he did not expect that flaw in his strategy. No matter. "Drapion charge and use Poison Jab!" Drapion, while big, was fast. However a Dragon Dance Corphish also zoomed in.

"Vice Grip!" Ash called out. Despite of the damage done with Poison Jab, Corphish stood focus and captured Drapion's pincers in his own. One Crabhammer to the face came next, however, Paul came up with a positive being in Corphish's close range.

"Drapion, Now use Confuse Ray!"

At close range the normally strange inaccurate move was able to nail the Ruffian Pokemon. His focused eyes, had once again became wide and glowed blue signifying a successful hit.  
Ash grimaced. "Oh boy. C'mon Corphish snap out of it!" Though a tricky situation, it would take more than a confuse ray to get to his pokemon.

"Thunder Fang." Paul said confidently, believing that this was in the bag. What he didn't know is that Corphish when confused was a… special pokemon.

While Thunder Fang did hit, a Crab Hammer was soon smashed in the Ogre Scorpion's face once again.

The Veilstone trainer's eyes widen surprised. While Corphish was still under the spell of Confusion, it looked like his habit of still battling under this annoying aspect was still prominent.  
Ash couldn't help but laugh a bit, remembering other times this had happened.

"Cor corrrrrr…" The water typed wobbled around before suddenly lurching forward without the slightest indication catching everyone off guard. He landed right before Drapion before doing Dragon Dance once again, before jumping back.

"Drapion stay focused." Paul said trying to keep his eye on Corphish in the midst of the nonsense that was being created. "Poison Jab!"

"DRAAAAA!" Tired of the stupidity that his opponent was making, Drapion roared in frustration and anger. He lurched forward, with poison glow surrounding is arm. Corphish however dodged out of the way, got behind the Poison-Dark type and Vice Gripped the tail. It was then that Corphish's strength was really shown, spinning around and carrying Drapion around with the momentum.  
It wasn't before long that Corphish let go and sent his opponent high in the air before leaping after him.

Another Crab Hammer slammed Drapion on the ground, successfully knocking his opponent out, but before the dust cleared, Corphish's luck with Confusion ended and proceeded to smash his own face with Crab Hammer before he too was knocked out.

The spectators viewed the outcome with varying responses, most with shock and disappointment, others like Ash with a mild bout on not knowing what the heck happened. Paul in disbelief on why a pokemon who won would do that. And some trying not to burst out in laughter, namely on white haired teen who was desperately trying to cover his laughs.

"Um… well it looks like both pokemon are knocked out… so… next match?" Tracy said not sure what to exactly announce for this particular outcome. Nothing has happened like that before.

Ash grinned at Corphish's Poke'Ball after he recalled him. "Your such a nut Corphish." Ash said with a grin. Pikachu looking up was restraining the giggles. Out of everything this was not far off of Corphish's initial personality.

"Alright take a rest. C'mon Bayleef." Ash called out one of his oldest partners.

Paul had recalled Drapion. "That was… unexpected… We'll try again." Even the stubborn Paul had to admit, no amount of training could ever prepare someone for that Corphish's eccentricity.

"Ninjask Stand By."

"Niha!" The Ninja Pokemon in golden gleam stared off at his Leafy opponent.

"Bay!" Bayleef cried out, happy to be back on the battle field. Sure it was type disadvantage but that has never stopped her before.

The feral grin was back again on Ash's face, getting his blood pumped! "Let's do this!"

Tracy nodded. "Begin!"

"Agility Ninjask!" Paul knew that Ash relied on speed and overwhelming his opponents. Let's see what its like to have that strategy thrown back at him.

"Nin!" In a blur Ninjask disappeared leaving no trace.

Ash rose an eyebrow. "Bayleef wait and brace yourself." He said keeping his eyes on the arena.

Paul stared hard down ahead. "X-Scissor!" From no where Ninjask appeared with glowing green slashers. He appeared from the front, and sliced once on the left and one of the right of Bayleef's face.

However Ash caught sight of the blurring Ninjask. "Vine Whip on your left!"

"Bay!"  
With speed, the green vines emerged from Bayleef's neck and snagged the legs Ninjask.

"Ni?!"

"On the ground! Use Body Slam!" Ash commanded, formulating a plan in his head."

"BAAAYY-" She lifted Ninjask high in the air. "LEEEFFFF!" With tremendous force she slammed the bug-flying type on the ground stunning him.

"Ninjask get up!" Paul called out when Bayleef jumped in the air.  
However the Ninja Pokemon was still too stunned and impacted in the ground. A shadow came into view of the grass-type coming nearer into view.

A great rounding thud sounded in the battle field showing a successful hit on Ninjask.

"Aerial Ace." Paul said finding an opening.  
The sharp attack knocked Bayleef off of the bug type. With Bayleef in the air Ash remembered an old tactic. "Vine Whip! Use it as a propeller to land." It was a strange method but one that has worked before and made the Leaf Pokemon land safely.

However Paul wasn't going to have any of that. "Giga Drain!" He yelled taking advantage of the pause between attacks. It was becoming clear to the purple haired trainer that he needed to find the openings in Ketchum's constant comebacks.

Ash knew that this attack was unavoidable. _'And if I just merely just let Bayleef take it, we won't have a chance to attack back before he would use Agility again.'_So if that's the case then it was time to do what he was famous for.

Charge head first into danger!

"Bayleef take it! Use your Vine Whip to propel yourself forward at Ninjask!" Ash called out. As with all of Ash's Pokemon, despite of the strange orders given, none of them hesitate to carry out the command.

And so, using her powerful legs and with Vine Whip for that extra Force, the somewhat slow Bayleef was able to go head first into the Giga Drain, and straight towards Ninjask.

"Headbutt!"

"Bayleef!" The power of Headbutt plus the force of the propulsion by Bayleef's strength had no less taken the speedy Ninjask by surprise, knocking the Ninja Pokemon straight out on the ground, nearby Paul's feet.

Even Paul grimaced, seeing his pokemon fainted so close. A stern look and a nod, he accepted this and carried on recalling his pokemon.

However he did do a good amount of damage on his rival's Bayleef, that was something. Once again Ash said nothing recalling his Bayleef, however to his surprised, the beam had no effect on her.

"Bay!" She looked at her trainer with a determined eye clearly intent to stay on the battle field. Pikachu nodded when Ash looked for advice, stating that its best not to force Bayleef out.

"Recall your Pokemon Ketchum." Paul said impatient to get on the next round. Despite of his losses, he felt a strange urge to continue, to see this power, to see why this Ketchum was so different from the Sinnoh.

Ash shook his head. He smirked. "Looks like Bayleef wants to see more of your stuff. I'm not gonna force my pokemon to do something they don't want to, especially when it comes to a battle they like."

Paul had to respect the Grass-types wish and sent out his next pokemon.

"Froslass!"

Out came the Snow Land Pokemon in elegant grace. An icy cold glare shot towards Bayleef who roared it off.

"You might be familiar with this tactic, however it won't be so easy to dispel this time." Paul announced to his rival.

Ash just merely grinned.  
"I look forward to it!"

"PIKAPIKA!"

"C'mon Paul! Show me what you got!"

Paul huffed. "So eager to lose?"

Ash merely laughed. "Ha! I don't care if I win or lose, I just want to fight."

For those who were not a Frontier Brain or didn't realize the means to becoming a Frontier Brain, were shocked to hear Ash say this. Paul was the most shocked and it showed.

Ash explained. "Well… that doesn't mean I don't want to win, but right now, its no big deal for me. What I want from this is to see what you got! C'mon Paul, I want you to surprise me! Upset me! Come at me with everything you got!" He wanted the battle to start, his heartbeat was getting faster and faster! He just wanted to keep this adrenaline rush going!

And now if he could hear thoughts, the thoughts of his pokemon who had not yet battled were calling out to get out there!

They thought it was unfair that Bayleef was still out there having fun.

Paul stared hard in the eyes of his rival, tempted to look away from such a fierce look. _'How did he gain that look, how did he get eyes similar to Brandon. However, they are different. Ketchum was not Brandon... he is something else.'_

Tracy looked between the two, and when the two battlers nodded he gave the go. "Let's begin!"

"Bayleef! Razor Leaf! Ash ordered from the start. No time to think, no time to hesitate. Yeah he was at an disadvantage but who cared. Not him, not Pikachu and not even Bayleef by the determined look in her eyes and the eager smile she wore on her snout before she launched the cutting flora towards her opponent.

"Hail." Paul gave the command. Suddenly a snow storm surrounded the arena freezing Bayleef's attack and having the Ice-Ghost type disappear in the flurry.

Ash knew this was the cause of Snow Cloak, and this time he didn't have a Fire-Type move to disperse it. Worse yet, Hail constantly does damage to his pokemon every more or so seconds.

_'Alright now you're getting it.' _Ash thought while at the same time thinking out how to make the most of this sticky situation.

Paul however had other plans. "Use multiple Ice Shards." From out of no where the ice began to converge together.

"Bayleef I know it won't do much but stir Vine Whip around yourself to try to lower the blow!" The Pikachu trainer called out in the storm.

Soon enough the Grass-Type attack was storing around Bayleef in a fashion that was a sort of Counter Shield. When the Ice Shards were fully formed they launched right into Bayleef; though broken a bit when they made contact with the Counter Vine Whip it did take a toll of damage.  
"Bay…" The Leaf Pokemon winced. In that moment of weakness Paul striked again.

"Ice Beam on those vines!" Once again from nowhere, a chilling beam of energy struck and froze the Vine Whip in place. To make matters worse, the status condition of Freeze affected Bayleef as well causing her to become an easy target.  
Paul satisfied with this outcome called in his next move. "Multiple Ice Shards again!" He called out.

"C'mon Bayleef try to break free!"

With ferocity, the Grass-Type tried to break the bonds of ice around her, the shards breaking off the more she struggled. However it was for naught as when the barrage of Ice Shards came and struck Bayleef dealing the last damage and sent her down. Fainted.

Ash looked on the battlefield impressed though he was a bit sad that Bayleef went down in the cold.

What was more she put up a great fight for two battles against opponents who constantly felt super effective attacks.

"Good work Bayleef. You really worked hard." Ash said recalling back his Johto Pokemon.

Paul decided to keep Froslass out. He was starting to be eager to see how strong Ash's other Pokemon were. His gliscor was definity formidable and his Corphish with his hidden strength and tenacity.

That Bayleef was unexpected. He didn't think Ketchum would go for more bulky types like his torterra. However, that was only in Sinnoh, Ash obviously had more than just Sinnoh on his belt.

"Let's do this." He said to himself.

Holding up his next Poke'ball, that feral grin that Ash seemed to love so much showed once again. "I hope you don't mind seeing a familiar face on a familiar battle field. Don't worry, he and I will be sure to mix it up. Right Pikachu?"

Sparks emerged from the red pouches. "Pikachuuuu!"

"Infernape I choose you!"

Out from the light, the Flame Pokemon took the stage in a familiar setting. So far, Paul had been using the same Pokemon that happened in the tournament. So… why not return the favor?

"Infeerrrrrrrrrr!" The Fire-Fighting type howled with ferocity that spread through the winds. Tracy squinting through the Hail deduced that both trainer's were ready. The cue was given and both the humans.

"Ice Beam!" Paul called out. It the middle of the storm came the beam.

"Dodge!" With a slight tilt of his head, Infernape dodged the beam as it passed by his head. The fire on his head started to get more fierce as the hail pelted his face. "Grrrrrr…." Yellow eyes darted around the snow covered battle field.

Infernape knew what to do in this situation however he sensed that his trainer didn't want to do that. Spice up the fun, try something new, were his trainer's thoughts. Tricky since his fighting moves were out.

On the other side Paul was worried that he was going to use that UnderGround Flair Blitz, so he decided to go with the initiative.

"Shadow Ball!" Paul called out knowing that move wouldn't miss.

Ash grinned, he knew that tactic, with a different Froslass and a different Pokemon however. But this time he was prepared.

"Infernape dig!" Ash called out wanting his pokemon to both take shelter from the storm and to execute his plan.

Anabel narrowed her eyes, remembering Ash's gible at the time doing the same thing with her friend's Froslass. So what he was up to?

"What do you think?" She whispered to Jed. The Aura Philosopher 'meh'd' and simply kept staring at the battle field. Of course he was wearing a knowing smile, one that irked most people but to those who knew him met a good sign.

Back to the battlefield.

Infernape, using his strong arms tore up the bottom field burying under the earth. Shadow ball was not deterred by the storm and followed through.  
"Infernape dig another hole out but go back and stay in the middle!" Ash yelled knowing how Infernape dug his holes. While Gabite was traditionally a ground time, his holes were straight and turned sharp angles. Infernape's dig was always curvy; when he dug out was a large swooping upside arch to it.

And so...

"See of you can Counter Shield with your FlameThrower in there!" Ash believed that Infernape's innate flexibility would be able to do this in a cramped space. However unlike the wide reaching arcs that it was known for, this Counter Shield was compressed to something akin to the FlameThrower Wheel.

When Shadow Ball hit, it shot the fire encased Infernape into the air. It was clear that what Ash wanted to do.

"Infernape Crash on down!" Right now if you could describe the look on Ash's face as the glorious heat washed away the frost on his face was pure excitement! A bit of wild rush along with pure heated adrenaline was now just rushing through him, right now, though a blizzard was right on him, he didn't feel the cold.

The great ball of fire blew away the obstacle that was the Hail Storm and plowed down on the ground! Fire and heat waves washed over the arena! The invisible Froslass could not dodge this and thus was struck and flown across the battlefield!

"Froooooo!" The Snow Land Pokemon slid before landing on her back. She struggled to get up. Remarkable she did not have the Burn Condition and she and Paul were thankful for that.

However it was then Paul noticed she was still wincing and hesitant. Why was she being like this? Paul knew that his Froslass was strong and could take attacks that would make others faint. But some part of him knew that what hit was particularly painful. Before he knew it, unfamiliar words came out of his mouth. "Froslass stay strong." He called out, but his eyes wide realizing what he just said. That was uncharacteristic of him, why did he call out encouragement to his pokemon. Though... The cold around him, he was starting not to feel it.

Reggie smiled bright and the crowd looked shock at Paul saying that.

Hearing that one compliment got the Ice-Ghost type right up blowing freezing cold breath to show that she was still going. "Laaaassss."

In retaliation, Infernape beat his chest and howled. Apparently he was reflecting his trainer's ferocity or you could say that Ash was reflecting his.

A pause of breath before the next move in this chess match.

"FLAMETHROWER COUNTERSHIELD!"

"ICE BEAM COUNTERSHIELD!

This was the call of the two Trainer's, similar now, as the challenger was now adapting a type of fire that burned brightly in the soon to be Frontier Brain. Their respective Pokemon started to spin around in a breakdance fashion, their elemental attacks spreading out and then clashing into each other of a mixture of fire and ice and steam in between came roaring in the area!

However as the elements go, fire was soon over taking the ice.

Paul didn't want that to happen of course. "Use Hail again!" And the snow storm once again commenced swirling around the Counter Ice Beam into a great cone of blizzard.

Ash just smiled seeing the sight of such an awesome move. "That's the spirit Paul! Show me what you got!"

He could feel that Infernape was grinning too at the challenge. He had been wanting to test his new found strength after they all trained for the battle against the legendary however as we know the Flame Pokemon simply wasn't the right one to do battle with the mighty Giratina. So this was his time to shine! Time to put things to use.

"Time to turn up the heat! Flare Blitz! Ash called out.

From the center of the flames a furnace erupted shooting mass waves of pure fire to burn it with colors of red, blue and yellow with tinges of white. So now it was a firestorm verses a icestorm. Cold on the Veilstone trainer's side and fire on the Pallet Town's trainer side, respective to their respective outlooks. Clash of the elements it lit the battle field in a glorious mark of pure battle passion! A tribute fitting for the first clash in the Battle Castle!

Soon enough the flames overwhelmed the Ice as these things go, but to give where credit is due, Froslass managed to fend of Infernapes counter attack for a good long minute.

But as soon as the ice storm imploded because of the fire, Froslass was sent flying out. But Paul could see that she was still going. "Hail to disappear, get a look on the battle field!" He called out trying to buy some pokemon some time. His blood was boiling for the rush of battle and he felt like he needed to cool off.

Another Icy blizzard engulfed the field and once again the Snow Land Pokemon disappeared without a trace.

You could see the fire head of the Flame Pokemon whipping around spying for his opponent.

Ash saw what his Pokemon was doing and ordered him to calm down. "Listen, try to sense them!"

At this the Fire-Fighting type stilled opening his senses in the Hail, ignoring the pelting ice hitting him.

"Shadow Ball!"

And for the briefest moment a the air shifted.

The slight motion of Infernape's head send Ash the signal. "Mach Blitz!" This was a new little combination they had come up during the training of Mach Punch and Flare Blitz. Happened in just a thought and they just tried it. Of course it had to be refined and practiced, the result-  
Fire engulfed the shimmering figure of the Ice-Ghost type. The power and speed of Mach Punch with the fire element of Flare Blitz made its mark. Froslass was sent careening back to her trainer's side of the field.

She had been passed out by the knock back punch and thus was recall back into the Poke'ball for safe keeping.

The snow had subsided and Infernape was called back in.

"I don't get it." Dawn said after the battle had ended. "Why didn't Ash just use that Underground Flare Blitz like he did last time against Paul's froslass?" She voiced the question that others had been thinking.

"Maybe…" Barry started off. "Maybe its because he didn't want to do the same thing twice?"

Zoey and Dawn looked at him like he was crazy however on some part in the back of their minds there was a nagging feeling that Ash simply _did_ want to do something different.

It was for the simple fact that it was fun.

The next contestants for the following battle were called forth.  
Ash sent out his trusty Buizel, in retaliation, Paul sent Aggron.  
Both on the field the two pokemon started off as if daring the other to move without indication.

Both the trainers stared at each other the same way, though one had to wonder.

If Paul was now down four of his pokemon and Ash two, then did why did the purple haired boy seem to be enjoying this battle despite of the now clear contrast of strength?

The Battle Begins!

Following orders, the Iron Armor Pokemon charged forth. The gleam of Iron Defense glowed over the metal and the white glow of Double Edge.

Aggron had defiantly gotten faster since Sinnoh since there wasn't time for Buizel to properly dodge that massive tail holding the powerful move.

So Ash did what he always does. "Try that Aqua Break Buizel!" Ash said getting excited.

Bui bui!" A glow of what looked like Brick Break showed on his paw however Aqua Jet sent the Sea Weasel Pokemon hurtling forward to Aggron with the Brick Break. The two collided with a clash of smoke and dust. Shear force caused the loose rubble from previously battles to clear the fields.

Neither trainer gave in though after that.

"Buizel Aqua Jet to the Sky!"

"Aggron Flash Cannon!"

A large torrent of water holding Buizel came clear from the dust a large silver ball of energy following after him.

"Spin and Ice Beam!" In midair water twirled with speed and soon Ice began to take shape making long, thin, jagged pillars of ice connecting to the ground and where the main source of water was in the air. Flash cannon connected sending shards of ice everywhere while semi shielding Buizel from the Steel-Type attack.

Spikes of ice sprayed from the sky forcing Aggron to shield his face with his thick iron arms.

"Aqua Break!" While the ice rained down, a shot of streaming water with a bright glow of Brick Break came speeding towards the Iron Armor and landing a hit that sent Aggron on his back.

"Aggron get up and Double Edge." Paul said trying to think of a good strategy to use Aggron's move pool with. However it became clear that Aggron's build was meant for power and defense. Not for adaptability.

And though it could be stated that Aggron had more power and defense against Buizel, however how would these fair against the adaptability and speed of Buizel? After all what is the point of having strength and power over the opponent when you can't hit them?

And so it became clear that this would become clear that either Paul had to adapt or be lucky.

As we know, that the Ability Symbol and the Luck symbol belonged to different Frontier Brains.

The white glow of Double edge was back and near upon the water type, a quick Brick Break lead for a deflect and the super effective move had overpowered the Double edge.

It looked like this match was going into Ash's hand once again."I'm not giving up!" Paul said out loud with an approving nod from Ash.

"That's what I want to hear. But I'm going to have to end this. Buizel! Get back and use Ice Pulse!"

Dodging another swing from Aggron, Buizel got back and formed a smaller Water Pulse launching it and then freezing it with an Ice Beam before it hit his opponent. The damage was minimal but it was a distraction long enough for another Brick Break. Aggron tried to retaliate with Iron Defense but it looked liked it was just too much for the Iron Armor pokemon to handle and thus it came to a crumbling halt of metal on the ground.

It was clear that it didn't matter how much power and defense Aggron had, with the rapid barrage of Buizel's speed raw power it cut down his opponent s health in no time.

And so it came down to this, the last pokemon Paul had.

Electivire. A tenacious pokemon; powerful on its own. And despite of being out in battle against Corphish, its health would be more than enough to easily go against any pokemon in battle. And while Ash had other pokemon to counter it, as per his and Paul's deal the next Pokemon he had next was Pikachu.

Tricky Paul, tricky.

Back to the audience.

"Remind me. What is Electivire's ability again?" Jed asked out loud.

Max went through his mental encyclopedia of Pokemon facts. "I believe it's ah… Motor Drive right?"

Barry remembered that. "That's right. Ash's next pokemon has to be Pikachu right? So that means Pikachu's electric attacks won't work."

A grave feeling passed through the crowd. One has to wonder why because its clear that Ash is going to win. To those who knew the power of Paul's Electivire, this would not be an easy battle.

"Stand by!" Paul commanded his signature electric type.

Out came that tall red-eyed pokemon, who roared fiercely its name.

On the other side of the battle field, Pikachu was grinning and beginning to get charged up.

"Pika Pikapi?" He asked his trainer if he was ready too.

"Of course!" Ash nodded taking on a completive grin. "Let's show them what we got!"

"Pikachu!" In a stream of lightning Pikachu raced on the battlefield staring his opponent down.

Electivire stared back at that Pikachu punk. Though he had to admit to himself that pip-squeak seemed a bit different. No matter, this punk was no match for him, not before and not now.

"The next round is between Paul's Electivire and Ash's Pikachu. Begin!" Tracy announced.

However no one launched an attack, it was a stare off of the highest tension. So thick that you could cut it with a Leaf Blade. Amber stared into Black, both daring each other to make their move. Everyone in the crowd stared with equal intensity, wondering who was going to go first.  
Pikachu and Electivire were both tensed and electricity was coursing through their bodies just wanting to get out. Evidence as the sparks and circuits dancing around them and scorching the ground where it landed.

Ten Seconds.

"THUNDER!" Paul's command was so sudden that it even took Ash by surprised. Luckily enough the great thooming bolt of lightning that shot down from the sky just missed hitting Pikachu completely by a hair. One must acknowledge, though, that the residue electricity did do harm to the Mouse Pokemon.

"Stay strong!" Ash encouraged feeling his starter's distress. When Paul called forth another Thunder, Ash called for the handy technique of Spin along with quick attack. This caused Pikachu to zoom around the battlefield dodging any sort of Thunder that came his way.

Following both his and his trainer's instincts, Pikachu got behind Electivire. Ash knew what his pokemon was doing and called an Iron Tail.

Before the Thunderbolt Pokemon knew it the signature sound of 'KAAAAAAAAA-PIKA!' and a sharp wedging pain of steel-type attack and struck!

"ELE-VIRE!"

"Brick Break!" Paul knew at this close range the momentum Pikachu was going wouldn't allow him to dodge out of his Pokemon's attack. And so the fighting type move made contact and sent Pikachu flying.

The smaller electric-type though landed on his feet and barked fiercely to show that he was still going. Ash still called out in concern though. "Pikachu how ya fairing?"

Said pokemon grinned at his trainer. "Pika-chu!"

"Awesome. Quick Attack!"

Though the zooming speed of Pikachu was indeed formidable, Electivire had the advantage to attack and not move.

A quick Protect called by Paul had deflected the attack and then launched a Thunder Punch towards his opponent's direction.

"Deflect that with Iron Tail!" Ash called out. And just in time too. The Iron Tail was able to seamlessly deflect the Thunder Punch off of Pikachu.

It was then that Electivire and Pikachu were caught in a game of offense and defense. Electivire went on the offensive with Thunder Punch and Brick Break and sometimes a combination of both. When this happened, Pikachu had to use Quick Attack with Spin.  
This time who was on the defensive was Ash and Pikachu. It was impossible to give a proper attack with Pikachu without activating that Motor Drive of Electivire. If they did that then the opponents would gain more speed to out match Pikachu eventually.

But whittling Electivire's health down would do no good either because sooner or later one of those powerful physical attacks.

Ash's mind rummaged through all his training during the past months on how to defeat an opponents were you could not use traditional attacks.

It wasn't helping that his first instinct was to attack in a rapid barrage. But that couldn't get anything done. Not with Paul constantly pulling up a Protect at the right moment.

There was no way to break it.

Since they cleared the roof of this battle arena momentarily he looked up to the wide open sky to see the clouds and air above . Similar to other battles, and other battles similar to other barrier…

And as quickly as it took him to blink, he remembered!  
He snapped back down on the battlefield were Pikachu had just barely dodged a Brick Break and now was panting a bit. However Ash was not deterred instead he was back on the game!

"Pikachu!" He called out to his best buddy.

"Pikapika?!" A quick moment glance was all that was needed to tell Pikachu that Ash had a plan. He swiped Iron Tail one more time at Electivire to keep the Pokemon from walking forward before running back to Ash's side of the field.

Paul noticed this difference. "What's wrong Ketchum?" He goaded on with Electivire laughing at Pikachu's attempts at intimidation.

"PIKAAAA!" Sparks ran down Pikachu as he called out Electivire's cheep ability. Ash however looked positively fierce with that grin on his face and that excitement in his eyes.

"OH! NO WAY!" Ash called out letting everyone know that he wasn't going to have Pikachu lose this battle once again to the Electivire family. "I think we just need to take a little roll back! Hey Pikachu! Ready to try something crazy once again?"

As always Pikachu was always willing to follow his trainer to and over the edge. Smiling Ash quickly looked up to see if everything was in position.

"Pikachu! Aim your Thunderbolt at that cloud above you!" Ash called out once again excitement taking over.

"PIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKAAAA-" The electric type knew that this was going to be a big one and charged up. Massive amounts of lightning generated around him. "CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Out of the tiny pokemon came a massive bolt that made everyone's fur and hair rise on end from the static it generated in the whole arena.

The bolt struck the cloud above and absorbed it completely.

And then silence.

Paul looked at his opponent unimpressed. "What… was that?" He said with Electivire snorting with laughter.

The crowd looked on the events strangely.

Yet when looking at Ash you could tell that everything was going according to plan.

A booming sound came from that cloud instantly turning dark.

And then in retaliation it shot out a larger more powerful looking lightning bolt and struck Pikachu. Completely enveloping the small Pokemon everyone winced at the bright light that shined.  
Ash's heart went out to Pikachu, though knowing his buddy could handle it, it still pained him to put his pokemon in intentional harm. "You can do it Pikachu. This is just like last time kay?"

From the inside of the volts, Pikachu while grimacing grinned. "Pi-…pika." And when the electricity finally disappeared, standing there was a golden gleamed Pikachu.

"He's using Thunder as armor?!" Dawn, Barry and Zoey exclaimed while everyone stood jaw agape at the bold move.

"I am so stealing that technique." Jed murmured to himself. And as always Anabel cast him an incredulity look.

Brock (squinting eyes somewhat) widen in remembrance. "Wait! This was used back when Ash was battling Tate and Liza back in Hoenn! But.. why-" It was clear that the sudden reemergence of this move was simply scrambling everyone's brain. Truly this is a ridiculous thing to behold.

Paul was obviously bewildered at this strange move. This wasn't merely a combination of moves but something else completely.

Ash was cheering though. "YEAAH! I can't believe I forgot about this! Ready Pikachu?"

The golden gleam pikachu cheered on with enthusiasm before charging towards the Thunderbolt Pokemon with speed unmatched.

"Ele!" Paul's pokemon could hardly blink before the Pikachu disappeared from his vision.

The trainer of Veilstone City could sense the panic in his pokemon. "Electivire prepare a Brick Break. Strike as soon as you see Pikachu." He tried to say calmly but honestly Pikachu was a yellow streak across the field.

Looking across the field Paul saw the utmost excitement in his rival's eyes. It truly wasn't about winning, it was seeing what they could do.

The term Volt Tail sounded out and you could tell that whatever that was wouldn't be good. "Protect!" Paul called out to Electivire who pulled up the translucent barrier.

Pikachu appeared from high above diving down with a Volt Tackle Charged Iron Tail. All his electricity had taken on a truly golden metallic sheen to it and came down in a brilliant comment.

The Protect barrier didn't last a second against the force of this power up pikachu. It broke, sending Electivire back with electricity crackling around it. While Motor Drive had activated Electivire couldn't even come close to the speed Pikachu was going at.

To give due, Paul called the right time to attack Pikachu with another Brick Break landing a hit. On the other hand, this didn't even fling Pikachu back.

You could see the Mouse Pokemon growling with the first on his forehead.  
"Pika." He said to his long time rival. While Ash and Paul may have settled their differences. Pikachu will always have a grudge against this bully of an Electivire. It was irritating that he couldn't take this guy down back in the Lily of the Valley Tournament. Well now…

Sparks emerged from his cheeks. "Pikapi."

Ash understood the intent of his starter. "Right Pikachu. I hate to cut this short Paul." Ash said to his rival. "But I think its time to wrap it up. Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"

"PIIIIIKKAAAAAA-CHHUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" It was a glorious fashion to the justice that Pikachu was able to make that powerful Electivire faint with a electric type move. Electivire fainted with a resounding thud with the golden Pikachu standing victoriously over his opponent.

Thus was the end of the battle between Ash and Paul.

Tracy backed up afraid to say something that might upset the fragile silence. The glow around Pikachu had faded leaving the electric type out of breath yet stoic along with Ash.

Ash's friends wanted to go up and congratulate his victory however from a small look he cast them kept them from coming further.

As for Paul he recalled back his fainted Electivire. He nodded. "Alright… we'll try next time." He said to the Poke'Ball. Letting out a sigh he said the obvious. "I lost."

Ash who had come to grab Pikachu nodded. "Yeah… but do you care?"

And to his own surprise Paul shook his head. "No. I'm not, surprisingly. Strange… am I losing my edge?" He sounded a bit dejected however not angry.

Ash denied this. "Nah… not really. You challenged me to see what I can do, and I showed you this. I think what you're feeling is… uh… how do I put this…" He scratched the back of his head before looking at Pikachu. "Um… learning…. I mean. I came at this battle as a Frontier Brain so as one I am suppose to teach ya. And what I think is that you're thinking of what you learned."

Black eyes looked impressed at that deduction. "And that is?"

Ash thought about it for a moment. "Well… I guess it was several things. And I admit one of those was kinda selfish of me to say."

The rival laughed a bit. "Really now? Didn't think you could be selfish Ketchum. You're the type of guy who seems not to know what the meaning of that."

The soon-to-be Frontier Brain laughed at the jest. "Yeah…. yeah. The thing is is that I just really wanted to show ya that I… no… we are different from the guys you battled in Sinnoh. This-" He gestured to himself and Pikachu. "is the team who were able to pass the Battle Frontier." He looked long and hard at Paul trying to convey what he meant. "I am strong, not because of flukes or mere chance. But… ah-"

"Because you work together." Paul summed up. "I think I am starting to see that. I would be a fool not to aknowledge that moment with Froslass that your method didn't hold truth. I'll guess I will have to test this out more."

Ash nodded. "Kinda. Though I don't expect ya to turn a one eighty."

Paul smirked. "You got that right."

The boys and Pikachu got a laugh out of that. Ash spoke once again. "I guess… we both kinda rubbed off of each other. I grew more of a spine and you-"

"Let's just say I've broaden horizons. Hmph. For once… I'm glad I lost. But back on topic, I'm assuming what else you were trying to teach me more about knowing your Pokemon's uniques strengths… which I guess I need to get to know them better in order to do that?"

The dark haired boy nodded. "I have a way to help that processes out."

"Really?" Paul asked curious.

"Yeah. Pet a Pikachu." He said holding Pikachu out, both with a grin on their faces.

"Pikachu." The electric type chirped.

Paul sighed at their ridiculousness. "I'm not petting Pikachu."

But Ash persisted. "C'mon. You know you want to." He said moving Pikachu closer to his rival's face.

"Knock it off you loser!"

"No."

This went on, back and forth, until one of them finally gave in.  
"FINE!" Paul yelled at Ash; the other boy merely laughing. With a sigh Paul petted Pikachu's head.

Though you could see there was a bit of humor in his eyes.

"Guess you're alright." Paul said to Pikachu.

"Pikachuuuuu."

"Don't get use to it." He told the electric type shoving his hands in his pockets.

Ash laughed as Pikachu got back on his shoulder. "Hey one more thing Paul and listen here because this piece of advice will help ya in the long run."

"What? Snuggle up to a Carvanha?"

The got another laugh out of Ash. "Only if you want to. But seriously… you are a part of it."

This was confusing. "Of what?"

He got irked when Ash and Pikachu smirked. "I'm not telling ya. You're gonna have to figure that out for yourself like I did. I mean she didn't tell me either." Ash said pointing to Anabel.

Said girl looked around nervously. "What?"

"Whatever. So are you going to help me heal my pokemon or what?"

Ash and Pikachu smiled. "Sure thing. After that let's hang out in the courtyard, I wanna show you the rest of my friends."

End of Chapter 31

* * *

**Okay first things first.**

**I totally Blogony sandwich all battle psychics. Yes some of it does not make sense but who cares.  
Had the most fun writing Corphish battle  
Least fun was Buizel's**

Also tip for the future.  
DON'T WRITE BATTLES BEFORE HANDS.  
You see I tried to make basic notes for the sequence of the battle but I found it extremely curved my creativeness when it came to battles. When writing a battle ou are to respond to the commands given like you are actually fighting on both sides trying to outwit yourself.

**I will do this in future reference.**

**As for Paul...  
I kinda wanted to make a different approach to how Paul will be against a tougher and more powerful Ash.  
Normally authors will still convey him as a ruthless trainer... however  
I wanted to show him becoming a more well rounded person.  
Granted he won't be the nicest guy you meet and he certainly will be still tough on his pokemon.  
He's just... more human. Gave him a reason to think 'hey maybe ketchum is right in this aspect, maybe I don't have to act like a complete jerk to everyone I meet. I would probably be happier that way.'  
But that is just me.**

So Ash and Paul are... not quite friends but not quite distant rivals.  
It's a strange relationship of bro-hood and being acquaintances.

**... **

**So hows your summer going? Mines good.**

My neighbor's dog keep getting mine to run away...  
I'm also pulling weed on a ranch.  
Good news is my mum is now getting her degree and I am so happy for her!  
:D  
ON TO NEXT CHAPTER!


End file.
